The Treasure of the Mizushima
by NicolelociN
Summary: Takara is the treasure of the Mizushima Clan. She has been protected and sheltered from the real world her whole life. When she becomes a ninja and leaves the village for the first time, she realizes that the world isn't as pure and innocent as she thought. But the truth of the real world isn't the only thing she learns; with her new team she discovers the truth behind her clan.
1. Information

***WARNING: SOME OF THE INFORMATION IN THIS INTRODUCTION IS INCORRECT. I HAVE CHANGED SOME FACTS AND THINGS TO FIT THE SOTRY BETTER AND MAKE IT SEEM LIKE IT MAKES MORE SENSE. IT WOULD TAKE TOO LONG TO GO THROUGH ALL OF THIS AND REDO IT, PLUS I'M USING MY 'FIRST DRAFT' AS A GUIDELINE SO I KNOW WHAT TO DO AND WHAT TO CHANGE. IF YOU CONINTUE READING, KEEP IN MIND THAT NOT EVERYTHING YOU WILL READ WILL BE TRUE IN THE STORY***

**Summary**

Takara is the treasure of the Mizushima Clan. She has been protected and sheltered from the real world her whole life. When she becomes a ninja and leaves the village for the first time, she realizes that the world isn't as pure and innocent as she thought. But the truth of the real world isn't the only thing she learns; with her new team she unravels friendship, love, hope, despair, secrets, pain, and the truth behind the Mizushima Clan.

***Naruto characters and the storyline do not belong to me. The only thing that does belong to me is the OC characters and additional points added in the plot.**

_**(DO NOT READ THE FOLOOWING UNLESS YOU WANT TO BE SLIGHTLY SPOILED. IT MAY SEEM LIKE THE INFORMATION BELOW CONTAINS MAJOR SPOILERS, BUT I ASSURE YOU, IT DOESN'T. I HAVE A LOT OF THE PLOTWISTS AND STORYLINE IN MY HEAD AND YOU DO NOT KNOW ABOUT THEM YET)**_

**Character Information**

Name: Takara Mizushima

Age: 12 (pre-shippuden) 15 (shippuden)

Species: Human

Gender: Female

Sexual Orientation: Males

Blood Type: O-

Birthday: November 17th

Personality: She's naturally social and easy to get along with. She's strong-willed and cares about her family and friends a lot. Aside from her friendly side, she is when things need to be taken seriously. She's a bit impatient and can be harsh when she needs to be. Lots of people consider he a fine ninja and friend because of her ideals. When she makes a promise, she keeps it. She's a little too innocent and hasn't experienced many bad or sad things in her life; that's why she has such a good personality. She's selfless. Though, because of her innocence, she can be easily manipulateed. (She bceomes stronger mentally and physically throughout pre-shippuden and shippuden. She also becomes more stubborna dn daring in Shippuden).

Good Traits: Her determination when it comes to protecting and fighting for the things she loves, her bubbly personality, her strong-will, her fighting skills.

Bad Traits: She's too trsuting, easily manipulated, doesn't realize the harsh realities of the world, she's reckless, sometimes over does it, tends to run into dangerous situation without back-up of a plan, doesn't think things through sometimes.

Likes: Family, friends, The Hidden Leaf Village, her sensei, her team, objects that have a hidden beauty, ramen, practicing her caln's kekkei genkai, reading, painting.

Dislikes: Threats to her friends, family, and village, liars, traders, people who manipulate others.

Hobbies: Training with her team, painting, reading, hanging out with friends and family.

Fears: Having the people she cares about die, being weak, being alone.

Strengths: Her kekkei genkai, her chakra, taijutsu, ninjutsu, her determination, her strong-will, her teamwork, analyzing chakra.

Weaknesses: Pain, death, genjutsu (at first), the center of her chest (her clan's kekkei genkai needs the center of the chest to be safe in order to use it [will explain later]), the protectivness she holds over her friends and family (will end up getting her hurt).

Personal Quote: She doesn't really have one, but she does this things where she analyzes the enemies chakra and rates them 1-10 based on their skill before fighting them.

History: Takara was born into the Mizushima Clan (will explain more abotu the clan later). She's an only child growing up and was cherished and loved by both of her parents and her clan. She's lived sort of a sheltered life due to her father (he had his reasons), but doesn't realize this until later. She's lived her young years care-free and easily. She makes friends with lots of people. She begins to realize the danger of the world she lives in when she joins the academy. The pathway of a ninja shows her the pain of the real world her parents have been hiding from her her whole life.

**Clan Information**

Clan Name: Mizushima

Symbol: (kind of like a capital V with an upside down one over it [that's not really what it looks like but I don't know how to show you considering I came up with it, so if you want you can picture you own symbol for it])

_**(DO NOT READ 'CLAN INFORMATION' UNLESS YOU WANT TO GET SLIGHTLY SPOILED)**_

Clan Information: (most of this Takara doesn't know. Only the leaders of the clan and the Hiden Leaf elders do) The Clan isn't that old or big. For the few people that know the true story about it, they call the clan the Copy clan. They call it that because this clan and its kekkei genkai were created by the kekkei genkai of other clans. (**That's about all I'm gonna give you on that. They rest will be explained farther in)**This ability to master other clans' kekkei genkai was past down. The power now rest in Takara's father. It will be passed to her when he dies. Because of the way their clan was created, people hate it. They say it's a fake clan, which angers Takara. The clan resided in the Hidden Leaf eventually to protect themselves from enemies. They created a treaty with the Hidden Lead; for their safety, the have to aid the Hidden Lead in whatever they need. The Mizushima clan agreed because they were desperate. The Hidden Lead elders try to keep the clan's true power a secret. Villagers still know about it, they just don't know how they got there power or what they full extent to their power is. Now the Mizushima Clan tries to remain safe and inconspicuous inside the Hidden Leaf. (the Mizushima Clan's chakra is purple).

Speciality: The Mizushima clan's specialty is all about controlling chakra. They are very good at taijutsu, chakra control, medical jutsu. They are sensory types too. The members of this clan are fast and have good stamina.

Jutsus/Techniques:

**Kuirobigan** - ocular jutsu (copied form the Hyuga clan. This is very similar to the Byakugan). It allows you to see enemies chakra, but also allows you to see all the different types of chakra in everything. Your kuirobigan can lock on to your enemy's chakra so you can sense it even when you can't see it. For example, if your enemy tries to attack you from behind after your kuirobigan locked on to them, the ocular jutsu will help your body move to avoid the attack. When you activate this jutsu, purple shows up aprumd your eyes (kind of like Naruto's Sage Jutsu). It goes from the inside of the your eye, around your eye, and to your hairline above your ear. While using this jutsu, the user's eyes glow (since this jutsu is only meant for the Mizushima Clan, they're eyes glow purple, because that's their natural eye color).

**Chakra Hand Blades** - (copied from medical ninjas). The hands are covered in chakra (similar to when a medical ninja heals) and they act as very sharp blades. The chakra is very hard for the enemy to see directly. Sensory ninja can detect it through.

**Chakra Veil** - They manipulate the chakra around them, making them blend in to their surroundings. It's hard for even some sensory types to find out where really are.

**Healing** - They specialize in healing because of their chakra control, but they heal themselves by drawing chakra from nature

**Teiqabyru** - (copied from The Village Hidden in the Stars). This is the clan's most powerful jutsu. This causes your chakra and surrounding chakra to form a 'cloak' around you so you seem to be covered in chakra. All of your jutsus and attacks are now stronger. (more explaining later on. She doesn't really know about this yet).

***All of these jutsus are very effective, but use a lot of chakra and can tire you out easily withour the proper chakra control. They are also very difficult to learn.**

Kekkei Genkai: Their kekkei genkai is their Teiqabyru. They did steal the original technique from the Hidden Star, but it has been modified a lot since then, so its become their kekkei genkai. While they're in the Teiqabyru state, all their attacks and sense are stronger. They're body's actions are almost ahead of their brain sometimes, making them very good at dodging. While this state is activated, their ocular jutsu (kuirobigan) is activated as well; they are also very fast and can get inside their enemies defense and deliver hard, damaging blows (kind of like teh Hyuga clan, but they are no where near as good as the Hyuga clan is). More will be said about their kekkei genkai as the story developes.

Forbidden Jutsu: Suitigomy Daicondri. It's a state like the Teiqabyru. Except, when your using this jutsu, you take the chakra of anything you touch, killing it immediately. This jutsu is very dangerous for others and the user. If the user absorbs too much chakra, they'll die. The only way to obtain this jutsu in the Mizushima Clan is by killing one of your kin.

Status: The clan is doing well. They're laying low in the Leaf Village to hide from suspicion. They don't really leave the village for things other than special ANBU missions. They're all alive, but their clan isn't that big. It had about 40-50 members

Clan Appearance:

**Skin Tone **- Pale

**Markings** - None (except for her Kuirobigan markings)

**Hair Colors** - Dark brown or black

**Eyes Color** - Purple/Violet

**Character Appearance**

Body Type/Looks: Slender. She's a little on the short end in pre-shippuden, but grows taller in shippuden. She won't have a big chest, like Sakura.

Height: 4'9 (pre-shippuden) 5'5 (shippuden)

Weight: 90lbs (pre-shippuden) 125lbs (shippuden) [I don't really know the right weight. Just picture her slender and average wieght]

Makeup/Facepaint: none

Hairstyles: Her hair is short in pre-shippuden. it goes a little past her shoulders. She keeps it down and has the Hidden Lead forehad protector on her forehead, keeping the bangs out of her face. By shippuden, her hair has grown longer to her waist. She keeps it in a loose braid. Her forehead protecter is in the same place. She keeps it on by long ribbons. She weaves the ribbons through her braid; that's what keeps her braid in place. If her forehead protector were to fall off, her braid would come undone or vise versa.

Accessories: A neckalce with her clan symbol on it. In shippuden she gets a ribbon with a calnl symbol on each end (will explain later).

Scent: She just smells fresh and pure (I don't know how to describe it exactly. But I'm pretty sure you know what kind of scent I mean).

Scars and Tattoos: She has a scar on you chest from when she tried to control chakra and do the jutsu she saw her father doing (Teiqabyru), and it went wrong. Her chakra exploded in her chest. Luckily she wasn't seriously hurt and just had a scar on her chest. She also has a scar on her hand form when she fell on a kunai when she was a little. She has a tattoo of her clan symbol on the outside of her left bicep.

Jewelry and/or piercings: Her clan necklace.

Clothes: Her clothes is pre-shippuden can be described as a short sleeveless kimono. The sleeves go just past her shoulders. Her top is a little loose and purple. It tightens a bit at her wait, but the rest drifts to her hips. her clan symbol is on the back. She has tight black shorts on and her kunai holster is strapped to her left thigh because she is left handed. She is wearing the regular ninja sandals. In shippuden, she wears a tight black shirt wiht sleeves that go just above her elbows. She typically wears fingerless gloves that go to her wrist. She wears a half-shirt thing that is longer in the back. It has to flaps that go to around mid-thigh in the front. The top flaps of the shirt in the back go to her knees. The skirt is purple. She wears boots that go just below her knees, but her toes and her heel show because the boot is cut out in that area. Under the skirt, she wears tight dark gray pants that reach mid-shin. The boots and pants overlap so none of her legs show.

**Relationships**

Parents: Her parents are Yuri and Madoka Mizushima. She has a very close realtionship with her family. They spoil her rotten and love her. She trains with her father everyday. She loves her parents very much.

Siblings: None

Relatives: She doesn't have many relatives. Her mother was the only child as well and she married into the clan, so Takara's mother's parents aren't in the Mizushima clan. Takara's father has a brother, but he died before she was born. her father's dad died shortly after she was born. So the only family member beside Takara's parents mis her grandmother. She is close with her too.

Best Friends: Daichi Hamasaki (teammate), Ichirou Tsukuda (teammate), Naruto Uzumaki, Hinata Nyuga, Kiba Inuzuka, Akamaru, Shikamara Nara, Neji Hyuga, Rock Lee.

Friends: Sakura Haruno, Shino Aburame, Choji Akimichi, Ino Yamanaka, Tenten, Gaara, Temari, Kankuro, Sasuke (she likes to think of him as a friend, but it's kind of hard because of his attitude).

Senseis: Masaru Saito is the jounin assigned to team 4. She has another teacher later on and his name is Arashi Mizushima.

Students: None (as of now).

Crushes: She slowly developes crushes over some characters. You will know as the story progresses. It's sort of a Sasuke/OC, Naruto/OC, OC/OC.

Rivals: None (as of now. I can't tell you who because it would kind of ruin the story).

Enemies: None (as of now. I can't tell you who because it would kind of ruin the story).

Pets: None (as of now).

**Stength in Jutsu and Other Things**

**1-5: Horrible**

**6-8: Below Average**

**9-10: Average**

**11-13: Above Average**

**14-16: Talented**

**17-18: Gifted (This is Sannin level)**

Ninjustu (ninja techniques): 11

Genjutsu (illusion techniques): 7

Taijutsu (martial arts techniques): 14

Kekkei Genkai (bloodline traits): 14

Doujutsu (eye techniques): 13

Kinjutsu (forbidden techniques): 18

Fuuinjutsu (sealing techniques): 7

Strenth in Missions: 12

Intelligence: 10

Wisdom: 7

Strength: 9

Agility (how well you can move/dodge): 13

Dexterity (how well you can aim/form seals): 6

Stamina: 14

Constitution (how well you can take a hit): 11

Charisma (how social you are): 16

Comeliness (your attrectiveness): 12

Chakra Control (important for medical ninja): 15

Cooperation (how well you work with other people/comrades): 12

***This information will not be true from the whole series. Most of this is about the beginning and some of it is later. I am not telling you lots of things because it would ruin the storyline.**

**Village Information**

Birth Village: Konohagakure (Village Hidden in the Leaves).

Current Village: Konohagakure (Village Hidden in the Leaves).

Academy Graduation Age: 12

Chunin Promotion Age: 14

Rank: Genin in pre-shippuden, Chunin in shippuden

Ninja Status: A village ninja sent on missions with her team

Are you in the Aktsuki: No

Bijuu (tailed beast): none

Teammates: Daichi Hamasaki and Ichirou Tsukuda.

Senseis: Masaru Saito and Arashi Mizushima.

Nindo (your ninja way): "Always hold true to your word."

Chakra Element: Water (later she finds out she also had the lightning chakra nature).

Weapon: She uses normal ninja tools like kunai, etc. Her main weapon is her katana that her parents gave her when she graduated from the academy. She also used her chakra as a weapon.

Jutsus:

**Water Clone Jutsu**

**Water Prison Jutsu**

**Water Style: Super Exploding Water Shockwave**

**Water Style: Furious Current Jutsu**

**Water Style: Great Water Arm**

**Water Style: Hand of Waves**

**Water Style: Liquid Bullet**

**Water Style: Raging Waves**

**Water Style: Storm Upheaval**

**Water Style: Water Dragon Jutsu**

**Water Style: Water Fang Bullet**

**Water Style: Water Wall**

**Water Style: Water Whip Jutsu**

**Water Transformation Jutsu**

**Chidori **(Kakashi teaches it to her later)

**Black Lightning **(will explain how she learned it later)

**Lightning Style: Dark Flash**

**Claw of Lightning Jutsu**

**Kitjustu: Thunder Realm**

**Lightning Houng Jutsu**

**Lightning Clone Jutsu**

**Lightning Illusion Statis Repulse**

**Lightning Piercer**

**Lightning Pulse**

**Lightning Release: Attack Point**

**Providence: Lightning God**

**Electric Wave Jutsu**

**Tainted Storm Jutsu**

(She learns more througout the series. She also uses her clan's jutsus)

**I did not create this OC template myself. I go it from: ** art/Naruto-OC-Character-Info-Template-277704409


	2. Prologue

**Prologue**

"No! Come back, kitty!" six year-old Takara Mizushima yelled after the filthy feline as she ran after it into an alleyway.

"Takara!? Don't run away!" her grandmother shouted after her, weaving her way though the crowds of people in the street.

But little Takara kept running after the stray cat, oblivious of her grandmother that was getting farther and farther behind.

Kitty-cat, I wanna play! Don't go," she giggled, approaching the forest. She moved around ever tree, not letting her eyes off of that bushy orange tail.

Takara came to a halt when the cat stopped running and climbed up the a tree. She stopped at the base and look up, pouting.

"You're a mean kitty. I bet you have no friends." In return, the cat hissed at her.

She "hmphd" and marched back from where she came from, or so she thought. After a few times of returning under the hateful glare of the stray cat. she came to the realization that she was lost.

She wanted to cry. It was beginning to turn dark and she had no idea how to get home. It wasn't her fault though. Her parents rarely ever took her out of the clan's land. When she left, she was always with one of her parents of grandparents and they always made sure she made it back. She knew she shouldn't cry. From what her father had told her, you have to be calm and reasonable in a time like this. But she didn't care; she cried anyway.

Takara didn't know how lond she cried for, but by the time someone had found her, the moon was almost visible from above the trees.

"Are you alright?" a voice asked; a young one.

It took her by surprise, yet she still was able to stand and turn on the voice, a stick extended like a sword in less than a second. Her training was paying off.

She didn't say anything as she stared at the figure hidden by the trees' shadows.

"Weren't you crying? What's wrong?" The figure asked, stepping out of the shadows.

Thanks to the moonlight, she found that the voice belonged to a boy. He looked to be around Takara's age. He had almost neon-colored blond hair and stood in messy spikes. She has no idea how he managed his hair at all. The bluest eyes started back at her, filled with curiosity and concern. He had sun-kissed skin and three marks on either side of his face that, for some reason, reminded her of cat whiskers. Her eyes narrowed, thinking of the cat in the tree that got her into this mess.

"Who are you? What do you want?" Takara asked, defensively.

A bright smile came over his face and he pointed to himself. "I am Naruto Uzumaki and one day, I'm gonna be Hokage! Believe it!"

Hokage. That word was familar to her; that word was good. She dropped the stick. "Are you going to protect the village and its people? Because that's the Hokage's job."

His smile grew wider, if possible, and he gave her a thumbs-up. "You bet I am!"

She assessed Naruto, debating on whether or not she could trust him. But after seeing that smile again, she declared him harmless.

Taking Naruto by surprise, she ran right up in front of him and clasped her hands together. "Can you please help me find my way home then?"

He looked taken aback. "What? Are you lost? Who doesn't know their way home?"

Takara narrowed her eyes at his last question. "My parents never take me out this far. I lost my grandmother and can't find my way back now." She argued.

When he didn't say anything, she crossed her arms and added, "If you want to be Hokage, you have to help people out you know?"

That seemed to bring him back. "Okay, what direction did you come from?" he asked and when she shurgged, he grabbed her hand. "Well then lets just get out of the forest first."

When they got out of the canopy of trees and saw the familar lights of the village, she breathed a sigh of relief.

"So, what's your name?" Naruto asked as they walked through the empty streets of Konaha.

The girl smiled big. "I'm Takara Mizushima! I'm going to be the best ninja in my clan. No, the best ninja in this village one day! You watch!"

"I've never heard of the Mizushima Clan."

"It's pretty small," she explained, "but don't take any of us for granted! We're strong!"

"Oh ya? Well not as strong as me!"

"No way!" she argues back, "I''m going to-"

A man with a mask drops down infront of them, cutting off their conversation. Takara and Naruto narrow their eyes. "Who are you?" Naruto asks.

"I am a member of the ANBU blackops. I am her to retrieve Takara Mizushima by order of the third Hokage; her parents are very worried about her. They told me to give you this." He holds out a necklace. She recognized it immediately. Her father gave it to her last year for her birthday. She takes a step forward and grabs it.

"We need to go," The ANBU member says, holding out his hand.

She begins to reach for his outstretched hand when she hears a deflated voice. "You're leaving?"

Naruto stands behind her, a sad look on his face and his shoulders slouched.

She smiles,"Ya, it's way past my bedtime."

When he sighs and lowers his eyes she walks up and hugs him. She feels his body stiffen, but she just hugs him tighter.

"Thanks for helping me, Naruto. You're going to be a great Hokage," she says when she lets go.

"Takara...," he mumbles, his eyes wide.

"But remember, you may be Hokage, but I'll be the greatest ninja ever!"

He snapped out of it when she mentioned _that_. "In your dreams!" He smiled.

"We'll see who's the best ninja tomorrow! Meet me at the academy at noon. I bet I'll kick your butt!"

"Wh-what?"

"Aw, don't tell me your chickening out, Uzumaki?" she teased, a big smile on her face the whole time.

"No way. But...you want to hang out with me?" he asked, sounding surprised.

"Of course I do. We're friends, right?"

"Friends?" He repeated, as if he's never heard of that word before in his life.

"Ya. And maybe we can even become best friends."

"Mizz Mizushima," the ANBU member said impatiently, "your parents are waiting."

"Right," she grabbed his hand and he scooped her up into his arms. She turned to Naruto. "See you tomorrow."

_(SKIP)_

"Argh!" The young boy let out a scream of frustration as he missed his intended target again.

"Calm down, boy. You will never get it right if you don't focus," his teacher instructed him.

"But I am focusing," he turned on him. "I've been training my entire life and I still can't do it! When will I be able to take my revenge!?"

"When you're stronger," his teacher answered, "You wouldn't even last thirty seconds. You're weak-"

"-I _am not_ weak!" The boy snarled. "I will succeed and kill those two for what they did to me. I will not lose. I will become strong."

The teacher stared at his raging student and simply said one thing.

"Prove it."


	3. Chapter One

**Chapter One**

_Takara POV_

Naruto was late to class again. Shocker. I'm pretty sure this is the third time this week. But I'm not too concerned, he does this sort of thing all the time. But everyone else in class, was fuming.

"Where is Naruto? He better not be late again."

"Oh no, we're going to have to do extra jutsu lessons thanks to him."

"What could he even be doing anyway?"

"I swear when I get my hands on that twerp..."

"Why can't he just be on time once!?"

_Sheesh,_ I thought, _if they spend as much time training as they spend complaining about Naruto, they would be Sanin by now._

Suddenly, the doors to the classroom bursted open, cutting off everyone's coversations. Ikura-sensei came through the door, pushing a tied together Naruto ahead of him. A smile came over my face at the sight of my best friend, but it froze when I saw all the paint he was covered in. That why he was late; he was pulling one of his infamous pranks.

"I'm at the end of my rope, Naruto. You've failed the graduation test last time and the time before that. Tomorrow you've got another chance and your messing up again!" Iruka-sensei scolded.

Naruto stubbornly turned his head, ignoring his teacher's words.

_Idiot_, I thought. _Don't make this harder for yourself._

I swear I saw a vein pop in Iruka-sensei's forehead. "Fine! Because you missed it, Naruto, everyone will review the transformation jutus!"

A chorus of groans and complaints echoed throughout the classroom. I was one of them. But what are you gonna do?

The students began forming along, dragging their feet as they did so.

"Nice job, idiot," some kid muttered as he passed Naruto. The glare Naruto shot back at the kid wasn't nearly as scary as mine.

"Hey," I said as I approached him. A smile immdeiately appeared on his face. "You need to try to get to class on time you know?"

His smile dropped and he folded his arms. "You're not going to give me the lecture too, are you?"

I took a step forward as the line began to shorten. "No. But you need to get to class on time for yourself. You can't just become Hokage for nothing." I slide a sly glance as Naruto and the smile came back on his face.

"Right."

"Alright, Sakura here, let's do it. Transform!" The pinkette said. Let me introduce you to Sakura Haruno. An average-sized girl who seemed to live to gain Sasuke Uchiha's attention. She was also the girl Naruto claimed to love. She was alright, I guess, once you got past her obsession of Sasuke.

A puff of smoke surrounded Sakura body and when the smoke cleared, a perfect mirror image of Iruka-sensei was standing there.

"Transformed in me? Good," Iruka-sensei praised.

"Yes! I did it! Yes! Sasuke did you see that?"

"Next, Sasuke Uchiha."

Oh, now let me tell you about Sasuke. It takes a lot for me to hate someone; and when I say a lot, I mean _a lot. _But many times I have found myself questioning whether or not he's crossed that line. He's just _so _cocky and rude. We all know what happened to his clan and I can't imagine what that must be like for him. But it's like he tries so hard to not have friends. Shouldn't it be the opposite though? Who wants to be alone? Not to mention his brooding attitude. Ugh! Most of the time, I try to avoid him. I fell sorry for whoever gets in his group after they graduate.

Of course, Sasuke preforms the perfect transformation justu. Naruto gets called up next.

"This is a total waste of time, Naruto." Shikamara complained, as usual.

"We always have to pay for your screw-ups." Ino added in.

"Like I care." Naruto responded, stepping up to the center of the room. "Transform!"

This time, when the smoke cleared, Iruka sensei's figure wasn't standing in the middle of it. Instead, was a young naked girl. I couldn't help it, I busted out laughing.

Iruka-sensei's reaction was the exact opposite of mine. "Cut the stupis tricks! This is your last warning!"

_(SKIP)_

Due to Naruto's shenanigans, I didn't have to do the transformation jutsu.

"So," I said to Naruto after class was let out, "are you ready for me to kick your butt in another round today?"

"You would not! I would totally win!" He shouted, leaning forward with his fist tightened. He suddenly backed up and scratched the back of his head. "But I can't. I have to clean off the paint from the great stone faces."

I stopped. "That's what you were doing earlier!?"

He opened his mouth to respond, but Iruka-sensei appeared out of nowhere and grabbed Naruto, hauling him off.

"Hey! Iruka-sensei! You can't - ," Naruto complained. "Bye, Takara!"

"Bye, Naruto!" I waved. "Remember, the test it tomorrow!"

When he disappeared around the corner, I turned and started to head back to my clan. Since Naruto can't train with me, I finally can train with my father.

But as soon as I turned around, I ran into the wall known as Sasuke Uchiha. He really his quite tall for his age.

"Why are you friends with that loser?" He asks, staring after where Naruto went.

I back up until their is a comfortable distance between us. "He's not a loser, Sasuke. And what's the occassion? You know, for actually interacting with other people?"

His eyes narrow and he stalks off after uttering his famous "Hn".

I stare after him, trying to figure out how he works.

_You'll never get him_, I told myself.

_(SKIP)_

An hour later, I'm out on our usual training field with my father. As the head of our clan, he's always busy, so I'm glad he had time to come out and train me. I've never seen my father fight, but I hear from all the adult in the clan that he's amazing, even mother. I hope to one day become as strong as him, maybe even stronger.

"Today, we are going to learn more chakra control."

As soon as those words came from my father's mouth, I defleated.

My shoulders slouched and I whined, "But why? We do that every time."

He smiles at my complaining and walks up to ruffle my hair. "Chakra control is very important for our clan's jutsus. One day, you will thank me for this."

"Doubt it," I mumble and follow him over to the stream.

"You see that bridge?" He points a little downstream, where the stream expands into what can be called a river. The bridge is fairly large, a little under a hundred feet. I nod. "You're going to walk across it with your hands."

I turned on my father. "That's it? I just walk to walk on my hands over it?'

"Oh, no," He smiles, not turning to me. "You'll be walking on your hands under it. You're going to have gather chakra into your palms so you can cross. You'll be going completely against gravity this time, so it will be a little harder."

"Got it." I start to head over.

"Oh, and you're going to be timed as well. Every time you don't make it under two minutes, you owe me a lap around the village."

Most kids would groan and moan, and I did at first, but I'm used to it by now. I understand that to be the best ninja, you have to be in tippity-top shape.

"You're on!" I smirk.

I go over to the bridge and stand on the railing. I take a deep breathe and flip myself over so I'm hanging off the side. Chakra starts to make it's way to my palms as I close my eyes and relax. I start my way across the bottome of the bridge.

I'm making good time, but when I reached the halfway point, my father yelled "Hey, Takara!" in a joking manner. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw an object hurdling toward me.

Instictively, kicked my leg out and deflected the object perfectly, but it caused me to lose my concentration and the chakra disappeared from my hands, causing me to fall into the water.

"Father!?" I yell, once I break the surface again. _I can't believe he threw that thing at me to get me to lose my concentration!_

"Fifty seconds, Takara!" Is all he says in return.

_(SKIP)_

"We will now start the final exam." Iruka-sensei explained, the next day at the academy. "When you're name is called, preceed to the testing room. The final test will be on: the clone jutsu."

I turned to Naruto beside me, knowing that was his worst jutsu, just in time to see him explode.

"Oh, no! That's my worst technique! It's like they're trying to get me to fail!" He yells, dropping his face into his hands.

"Hey, cheer up. I believe you can do it. How bad do you want this?" I ask, atemptting to make him feel better.

"Really badly," he groans.

"Then go in there and show them what a real clone jutsu looks like!"

"Ya!" Right as he says it, the door opens and his name is called.

"Good luck, Naruto! I believe in you!" I shout

"Hn."

I turn around to find none another than Sasuke Uchiha, staring after where Naruto left. Deja vu, anyone?

"What?"

He gaze switches and he looks at me. Then, without so much of a word, he stalks off again.

I turn around and shake my head. I can't let that get to me. Today is the final exam. I need to stay 100% focused.

One by one, each student gets called out of the room to take their test. I find myself wondering about Naruto.

_I hope he did okay. I wonder where they go after the test. Hopefully, he passed and then we can have matching headbands._

Someone nudged me in the side, it was pretty hard too, I might add.

"Ow!" I hiss, turning to Sasuke. "What the heck was that for!?"

He sighs. "They called your name, loser."

"What?"

He gives me one of those looks that would make a grown man feel small. "Your name...for the final exam."

"Oh, right," my face flushed as I stood, "Thanks."

When I entered the final exam room, Iruka-sensei and Misuki-sensei were seated behind a table.

"Takara," Iruka-sensei greeted, "Whenever you're ready."

"Um, did, um Naruto pass, Iruka-sensei?"

"I'm afraid we can't tell you that, Takara. Please just preform the jutsu," he said. I could tell from the way his face fell, that it was not a good outcome for Naruto.

I nodded and did the jutsu pretty easily. Since my father always has my train my chakra control, simple jutsus are pretty easy for me.

They told me I passed and finally gave me a Leaf forehead protector. I held is presciously in my hand. It was so shiny and I was finally a ninja. I couldn't help my giddiness.

"Thank you!" I yelled and then ran out of the room and out of the academy. All the other kids who took the exams were outside as well, chatting about their new forehead protectors or the fact that they're finally a ninja.

I look around the crowd for Naruto. When I spot him, he's sitting on a swing under a tree in front of the academy.

I sigh. So my suspicions were right, he didn't pass. I trudged over to where he sat, but he didn't raise his head.

"Hey," I said because I really didn't know what to say.

"I didn't pass."

"They obviously couldn't see the talent you have. You'll get it next year!" I smile, trying to cheer him up.

He looks up. "But that wasn't the plan! We were suppose to graduate together!"

"It's okay. It's not like I'll be going anywhere. I'll stay here until you graduate and we'll be great ninja together!"

"It won't be the same," he hangs his head again. "Go ahead and celebrate with everyone else."

"No. I can't leave my bestfriend!" I argue. A hand comes down on my shoulder and I turn to see my mother and father.

"Sorry we're late. I had some business to take care off," my father says, he turns to Naruto. "So how did you two do? You passed right?"

Naruto head sank even lower so that his hair covered his eyes.

I shot my father a look, but he just hooked his arm around my shoulder and steered my back to the crowd of excited new ninja.

I looked back over my shoulder to Naruto following Misuki-sensei. I faintly smiled. Maybe he can try to cheer him up.

_(SKIP)_

When we get back home from my celebratory dinner, my father announces he has a surpise for me.

"Close your eyes and hold out your hands," my mother places her hands over my eyes just to be sure. I feel something long and slender being placed in my hands. It's not too heavy, but not too light. It's just right.

"You can open your eyes now."

My eyes shoot open and I gasp at what I'm holding. "It's a sword," I say is awe.

My parents smile at each other. "It's called a katana. But you can call it whatever you want." My father bends down beside me and grabs on to the sword. "You see that?" He points to the engravings on the hilt. "It says Treasure. You know that's what your name means, right? Treasure."

I shake my head, a big smile on my face.

"Well now you do. This is yours now. It's your present for graduating."

I hug my mother and father. "Thank you so much!"

"Watch where you wave that thing!" My mother calls out alarmingly.

My father and I laugh and I grab on to his and drag him outside. "Come on, we only have a little bit of daylight left and I need to learn how the weild this swor-I mean katana."

"We have lots of time, Takara. What's the rush?"

I turn to face my father. "Because I'm a ninja now. And if I want to be the best ninja, that means no breaks! I need to get to it right now!"

**This is a little rough because I'm kind of trying to introduce everyone. I'm also playing around with Takara's personality a little bit. Next chapter they meet their team. I'm excited for that.**


	4. Chapter Two

**Chapter Two**

_Takara POV_

Today was orientation. Also the known as the day where you you meet the rest of your team and sensei. I couldn't help the bubble of excitement in my chest when I thought of all the possibilities for teammates. Kiba Inuzuka wouldn't be bad, neither would Shikamara I guess. Even though he doesn't put much effort in, I've heard he's really smart. That could be useful. I don't really talk to Shino much; Choji is always eating, I don't know how useful he could be. And I would die if I had to deal with Sasuke Uchiha as one of my team members.

"Takara," my father knocks gently on the door. "You have someone here to see you."

I slowly slide out of bed. _Who in the right mind would come to see me this early_, I thought. It was ten til eight.

I trudge out of my room and towards the front door, still in my pajamas. "Welcome to the Mizushima reisdence, how may I help you?" I ask, slightly sarcastically when I open the door. What can I say? I'm not a morning personal at all.

"Takara, look!" A familar voice yells and something very shiny is pushed right in front of my eyes.

I groan and sheild my eyes with my hand as I pull back. "Naruto! What the heck!?"

"_Look,_" he shoves the thing in my face again. "Do you know what this is?"

I grab what he's holding in his hands and hold in the correct amount of distance from my face so it doesn't blind me. My eyes widen when I realize what this is. "Is this...?"

"Uhuh, uhuh," he nods his head vigorously, a bright smile on his face. "I passed and have my very own forehead protector. I am officially a ninja of the Leaf."

"But how?" I ask, genuinely confused.

"Well, I...um," he scratched the back of his head. "I just trained really hard and finally figured out the clone jutsu. When I showed Iruka-sensei, he cut me some slack and passed me."

I furrowed my brows, still confused. "Really? Iruka-sensei passed you?"

"Of course! I wouldn't lie. Anyways, we'll finally be able to graduated together, Takara! You won't have to wait for me!" Naruto excalims, nearly jumping from excitement. I'm excited too, really excited. Like he said, I won't have to wait another year for him.

I scoff and lightly punch him in the shoulder, wearing a small smirk. "Oh please, I'll always be waiting for _you, _Naruto."

"Hey!"

I laugh. Everything was perfect right now. I had friends, family, and now I'm becoming a ninja with my best friend. We're once step closer to achieving our dream of him becoming Hokage and me becoming the greatest ninja. The only thing that could be better was if Naruto and I were assigned to the same team.

"What if we are on the same team!?" Naruto exclaims, saying exactly what I was thinking.

"That would be awesome!"

_ But what if you aren't,_ a voice says in my head.

My smile disappears and I become serious. "Naruto, but if we don't end up on the same team, promise me that we won't drift apart."

Naruto's face falls and he gives me a sad smile. "How could you ever think that I could forget about you. Your my best friend."

I smile reappears on my face at his attempt to cheer me up. "Thanks. I don't know what I would do."

After a few moments of silence, Naruto gently pushed me back through the doorway. "Well, hurry uup and get ready! Orientation starts in an hour and I am not walking in without my best friend!"

_(SKIP)_

Fifty minutes later, I'm walking through the streets with Naruto. He have our forehead protectors on and they're going to take a bit of getting used to, but they look super cool. We both wear ours the proper way and have it covering our foreheads. It's easy for Naruto to wear it like this, but I had to position it just right so my hair could cover it up on the sides and the back.

We were just leisurely walking down the streets on Konaha, betting who would be on who's team, when a little boy with a metal cap on jumped out from behind a poorly disguised sheeet that was suppose to look like a fence. The pieces of wood were running the wrong way.

"You're mine, Naruto!" The little boy shouted. He made a move to advance, but tripped over his discarded poor disguse.

I raised my eyebrow and turned to Naruto, unimpressed. He gave me an exasperated look and shook his head, turning his attention back on the boy.

"Uh, what do you think you're doing, Konohamaru?" Naruto asked.

_So that's the little boy's name. How does Naruto know him already?_

"That was a slick move," the boy, Konohamaru says, still face down on the ground. "That's why I respect you as a rival."

My eyebrows raise. _Rival? What has Naruto been doing lately?_

"But I didn't do anything," Naruto says, deadpanned.

"Alright, now fight me fair and square." Konohamaru begins to make a hand sign.

"Sorry," Naruto adjust hsi forehead protector, "I've got an oreintation to go to with my friend."

"Orientation?"

"That's right. As of today, I'm a ninja," he says way too cocky for my taste. If he keeps this up, he'll be like Sasuke. "Believe it."

He points to his forehead protector and Konohamaru gazes in awe, giving Naruto the exact kind of reaction he was hoping for.

I elbow Naruto in the ribs. "You're starting to sound like Sasuke," I hiss.

Konohamaru finally notices me. He stares at me strangley, like I species he's never seen before. He looks me up and down and then leans closer to Naruto. He whispers, "Is she your girlfriend."

At first, Naruto doesn't say anything. Then, he suddenly explodes. "You idiot!" He raised his fist, his eyes big, "I just told you she was my friend!"

I smile and decide to scoop in and save Konohamaru before he ends up with a big knot on his head.

"Naruto, come on. We're gonna be late."

"What? Oh, right!"

Naruto grabs my hand and pulls me down the street to the academy, as if I'm the one that was dragging us behind.

When we actually enter the classroom, we have a lot of time to spare. Guess we weren't as late as I thought.

Naruto and I take a seat across the aisle from each other. He sits there grinning when Shikamar Nara walks by.

"What are you doing her Naruto? This isn't for dropouts. You can't be here unless you graduate."

Naruto narrows his eyes and points to his forehead protector. "Oh ya, do you see this? Do you see this? Open your eyes Shikamaru. It's a regulation headband," He grins. "We're going to be training together. How do you like that?"

Shikamaru humphs and turns away.

"Let me put it to you this way: I look great in this headgear; like it was made for me. Believe it," He laughs.

"We're doomed," Shikamaru grumbles.

"Give him a break, Shikamaru. He graduated; like the rest of us. We're all equals now," I argue, defending Naruto.

"Che."

I turn to the noise and find Sasuke sitting on the other side of Naruto. He's staring straight ahead, but by the smirk on his face, you can tell that he was listening in on our conversation. I glare at him, but don't say anything.

A bang causes everyone in the classroom to turn their heads to the door. Sakura and Ino are shoulder to shoulder, panting hard.

"I'm first!" They both declare, only to glare at each other when the realize what the other said.

"I won again, Sakura."

"Give it up. I had to look back to see you. My toe was at least a tenth of an inch ahead."

"Have you always been this delusional?" Ino asks, hands on he hips.

I look over to Naruto, about to tell him how ridiculous they're acting, but whenever I see his flushed cheeks and the look in his eyes, I realize that it's no use. He's too far gone.

"Sakura..." He moans and I swear a bit of drool drops.

"Naruto." I say as Sakura runs up, but he ignored me.

"Hi Sakura, what's up?"

"Move it!" She pushes Naruto out of the way and he lands on me with a "ompf!"

She oogling at Sasuke. _Huge _surprise there.

"Uh, good morning, Sasuke."

He glances up at here. I crack a smile. _Oh this has got to be good._

"Mind if I sit next to you?" She asks.

Ino comes running up and pulls Sakura away. "Back up, forehead, I'm sitting next to Sasuke."

"I was here first!" Sakura growls.

"I walked into the classroom before you did! Everybody saw it!"

"Dream on."

"Actually, I got here before both of you." Another girl added in.

"No, I was the first one here!" Said another.

"I want to sit next to Sasuke!"

And in the next five seconds, a crowd of hormone-raging teenage girls are huddled around Sasuke, arguing over who gets to sit by him. Sasuke just sits there, slightly annoyed.

"Geez, I'm sure glad you aren't one of those girls who are always fawning over Sasuke." Naruto says, rubbing his bottom from the brutality of Sakura's shove., only to get shoved down again by Sasuke's fangirls.

Naruto growls and pushes himself up again. "That's it!"

Naruto disappears and I hear a gasp go through the crowd of girls. I stand and weave my way through, preparing for the worst. I find Naruto face to face with Sasuke; the two of them glaring at each other.

"Naruto! Hey, stop glaring at Sasuke!" Sakura yells.

He looks back, conflicted between proving his manly ego and pleasuring the girl of his dreams. He goes back to glaring at Sasuke and of course, all of his fangirls freak.

After that, everything seemed to happen in slow motion. This kid that was sitting in front of Sasuke took notice in the stare down.

"Whoa! This is great!" He scoots his chair back and in result, bumps Naruto forward. "Sorry, did I bump you?"

Everyone freezes; the fangirls stop screaming and stare in astonishment as Naruto and Sasuke lock lips.

Their eyes widen and they jerk apart so quickly that you would have missed the whole thing if you blinked. That's when everyone _really _freaked out.

Naruto and Sasuke turn away from each other and start hacking, as if they can erases the memory of kissing each other. That's about when I start laughing. Who knew that Naruto's first kiss would go like _this._

"Naruto...," Sasuke's fangirls said in a dengerously low voice, their eyes twitching, "You are so dead."

"Hey, whoa. It was an accident." He raises his hands in surrender and when Sakura pops her knuckles with that deadly look on her face, I take the hint and exit the crowd for safety.

They immediately all throw themselves at Naruto and I cringe everytime I hear a punch thrown. Thankfully, they all stop after awhile because Iruka-sensei is coming in, but Naruto is still pretty beat-up.

I hold a package of ice that Hinata got for Naruto against him cheek as Iruka-sensei gives us the speech of becoming a ninja.

"Ow." Naruto groans as I push a little too hard on the bag of ice.

"Sorry!" I squeak and lighten my hold.

"As of today, you are all ninjas. To get here, you faced difficult trials and hardships, but that's nothing. What comes next will be far more difficult. Now you are only Genin: first level ninjas. All the Genin will be grouped into tree man squads. Each squad will be lead by a jounin: an elite ninja." Iruka explained. I sat up a little bit straighter, intereseted in this part. _A three man squad?_ _Who are my teammates going to be? I wonder what my sensei will be like?_

"We want each squad to have a balance of strengths and abilities, so that's how we set them up. I will now announce the squads..."

I look around the room, wondering who I would end up with. They said a balance of strength and abilites. Since I'm so good at chakra control, maybe they'll put me with someone who isn't, like Naruto. I stop wondering about it when I hear my name being called.

"...Team 4: Daichi Hamasaki, Takara Mizushima, and Ichirou Tsukuda."

I find out that I'm not disappointed about it, but I'm not exactly thrilled about it. Naruto and I weren't on the same team, but it was a long shot anyways. At least I didn't get Sasuke.

I've heard of Daichi and Ichirou before; I've talked to them a few times too, but not a lot. I like both of them and I wouldn't consider them weak. I have no idea what they speacialize in though or how they fight. The Village proabably knows what they're doing placing us together, though, so I trust that this team is well divided.

Daichi Hamasaki is kind of goofy; he's like a less-extreme Naruto. He has black hair that he keeps in messy curls that fall over his forhead protector. His eyes are bright blue. He's cute. Other than that, I don't know much about him.

Ichirou Tsukuda reminds me of Sasuke, but he's not _that _bad; I can actually stand Ichirou. Some girl fawn over him, but they kind of left his banwagon when brooding Sasuke showed up. Ichirou has long silver hair and pale eyes that are special to people on in his clan. I haven't heard much about his clan; I did hear something about them being involved with dragons. I don't know if it's true though.

Daichi catches my eye and gives me a smile. Ichirou sees me looking at him too, and a corner of his mouth lifts in a friendly gesture.

"Oh man," Naruto groans, "At this rate I'll end up with whiny Ino and Sasuke."

I pat his shoulder. "Considering the luck you've had so far today, that is entirely possible."

"... Team Seven: Naruto Uzumaki, Sakura Haruno -"

"Ya!" Naruto stands and yells.

"I'm doomed," Sakura hangs her head.

I guess Naruto has luck on his side today.

"... and Sasuke Uchiha."

Or not.

"Ah!" Sakura jumps up.

"I'm doomed."

I laughed at the irony. "I guess you can't have one or the other."

"Next, squad eight: Hinata Hyuga, Kiba Inuzuka, and Shino Aburame. Now squad ten: Ino Yamanaka, Shikamaru Nara, and Choji Akimichi. Those are all the squads."

Naruto is quick to complain.

"Iruka-sensei," he swings his finger towards Sasuke, "why does a great ninja like me have to be in the same group as a slug like Sasuke!?"

Iruks-sensei looked at the sheets of paper he was holding. "Sasuke had the best scores of all the graduating students." My eye twitched. "Naruto, you had the worst scores."

Everyone started laughing and I tugged on his jacket. "Sit down before you embarrass yourself any further." He ignored me.

"To create a balanced group, we put the best student with the worst student."

"Just make sure you don't get in my way, loser."

'Hey! What did you say!?" Naruto yells, grinding his teeth together.

"Hard of hearing?"

Everyone laughs again and Sakura scolds Naruto.

"You know you could at least try to be a little bit nicer to Naruto! He's on your team now and belive it or not Sasuke, you're not invincible. You're going to need help every once in awhile." I argue back, annoyed with his attitude.

He glared at me, but then just turned back to the front of the class.

"After lunch, you'll meet your new jounin teachers. Until then, class dismissed."

Everyone stood up and started to find their new teammates. Daichi came up to me, Ichirou following.

"Since we all brought our lunch, I think we should all eat together and get to know each other better now that we're all a team. Uh, I mean...," he rubs his neck, nervously, "not that I wouldn't want to get to know you guys if we weren't teammates. It's just, now that we are, we should, um..."

I smiled, amused, and looked over at Ichirou to find that he was doing the same thing.

"That sounds great, Daichi. Do you have any place in mind?"

"Uhhh, not really."

"Luckily, I know just the place."

We leave the academy and I lead them towards the field that my father and I always train on. I've become rather fond of that area, I go their quite often. It's the perfect place for our team to relax and get to know each other. No one else, that I know of, knows where this place is.

I see Naruto walk over to Sakura, probably asking her if they want to eat lunch together too. He's never going to learn.

"Aww, how did you find this place?" Daichi asks in awe.

"My father and I train here a lot. I would know the way here and back blindfolded," I explain, sitting down against a tree. Ichirou and Daichi sit by me, all three of us creating a circle.

"How much are you willing to bet that our new sensei is a girl?" Daichi asks with a grin, unpacking his lunch.

"No way, our sensei's going to be a guy." I laugh.

"Trust me, I wish it was gonna be a guy, but I have this feeling: it's a girl." He clarifies.

"Guy."

We turn to Ichirou to find him smirking at his rice patty. "Our sensei's going to be a guy."

I turn to Daichi with a satified grin. He shurgs. "Ganging up on me, huh? Whatever, I still think our sensei is going to be a girl."

"Fine," I say, pulling out my own rice patty, "just be prepared to pay up."

"Same goes to you two."

"So, what kind of justu do you too specialize in?" I ask. I'm curious to see how they teamed us up and why. Since I speacilize in taijutsu, I'm guessing they specialize in ninjutsu and genjutsu.

"Ninjutsu!" Daichi says through a mouthful of ramen.

"Taijutsu and Genjutsu," Ichirou replies.

Daichi and I stop chewing. "You specialize in two?" Daichi asks. Ichirou shrugs. "But you can't."

Ichirou chews his rice patty. "That's what the academy told me."

"Well, like, if you had to choose which one you were better at, which one would it be?" Daichi presses.

"Taijutsu, I guess."

I wonder why they would put Ichirou and I in the same group, if we both are best a taijutsu. What were they thinking?

"What about you? What do you specialize in, Takara?"

"What? Me?" Daichi nods. "Taijutsu."

Ichirou turns to me, probably wondering the same thing I was moments ago.

"That's great! We'll be an awesome team!"

When Daichi stands up, Ichirou and I look at him confused. "What are you doing?"

"If we're going to become a true team, we need to know each other's stengths and weaknesses through and through. Lets start training right now!"

"Uh, but we just ate." I point out and Ichirou nods in agreement.

"Come on! Do you guys wanna be the best!?" Daichi yells, raising his fist.

"Chill, we haven't even met our sensei yet. We'll have plenty of time to improve where someone won't throw up afterwards," Ichirou says.

Daichi looks at me for help, but I agree with Ichirou. My stomach feels fine now, but if I got up and started training, there's no telling what would happen.

"Fine! I guess I'm all on my own then!" And with that Daichi takes off through the woods.

Ichirou sighs and goes back to eating his lunch. "He's such an idiot."

It was like I had my own Naruto and Sasuke on my team.

**End of chapter two. It's a bit longer and she finally meets her teammates. I'm still experimenting with everyone. Hopefully, in about two or three chapters, I'll get ahold of how I want things.**


	5. Chapter Three

**Chapter Three**

_Takara POV_

"That idiot," Ichirou muttered as we had to stop _again_ so Daichi could empty out his stomach's contents in a bush, "That's the fourth time in twenty minutes. How does he still have that much food in him?"

I shrugged and winced when I heard him yack again.

"We warned him this would happen. What kind of person trains _right after _eating?!"

"Daichi," I answer as he finally comes out from behind the bushes, cradling his stomach.

"Ugh, I feel awful," he moans. I swear I saw Ichirou's eye twitch as he stepped forward, but I beat him too it.

I wacked Daichi in the back of the head. "You should feel awful! You ran five laps aorund the forest!" Five laps might not seem like that much, but when you take into account that we're the Village Hidden in the _Leaves,_ you find our that there's a lot trees than you thought.

"Takara!" He complained, rubbing the back of his hands. He suddenly froze and both hands went to cover his mouth as he ran beind the bushes again to hurl.

"Oh come on, we're going to be late to meet our sensei. Hurry up, Daichi!" Ichirou said.

'I'm coming, coming." Daichi came out from the bushes a moment later, still cradling his stomach. He made sure to stay farther than arm's width away from me as we headed back to the academy.

Iruka-sensei said that our sensei was going to meet us in front of the academy at two. it was currently two eleven, thanks to Daichi and we still were a couple minutes away.

"Make sure you don't forget about our bet, Daichi," I tell him, smirking, "I think I'm going to get some ramen afterwards and I'm a bit short."

Daichi grumbles, but doesn't respond. he just trudges on, still holding his stomach.

We arrive in front of the academy at two seventeen. We stand in front of the tree with the swing and look around for our sensei, but don't spot anyone.

"Did our sensei leave because we weren't here?" Daichi questions, standing fully up now. I guess his stomach is done emptying out for now.

"No." Ichirou says, looking around. "Our sensei's here."

I nod in agreement and try to find him. I take a deep breathe and try to focus in on specific chakras. I should be able to detect our sensei if he's hiding, the people of the Mizushima caln are sensory ninja's and master in chakra control, afterall. I feel Ichirou's, Daichi's, and mine, as well as some other people in the academy. I feel an unfamilar chakra behind us and turn right as our sensei jumps down from the tree.

It is a guy. He is in the typical jounin outfit: a green vest, black long-sleeve undershirt, black pants, and sandals. His leaf headband does little to tame his crazy hair. His hair is blond and it kind of reminds me of Naruto's, except a lighter blonde and more crazy. He has green eyes that stare at all of us with mischief. He looked young.

"Pay up," I muttered to Daichi, "he's a guy."

Daichi grumbles, but fishes out some money from his pocket and smacks it into Ichirou's and my hand.

"Good, you were able to detect my presence," our sensei said.

"_You're_ our sensei?" Daichi asks, rudely. Ichirou smacks him in the back of the head. This time, he thankfully didn't hurl.

"Shut up!"

"Yes," our sensei leaned in closer to Daichi, "Is there something wrong?'

"Well you look like us," Our sensei raised his eyebrows and Daichi nervously rambled, "I mean, you don't look exactly like us, everyone's different. But yet, we all look similar because we're all humans, but you -"

Ichirou wacks Daichi again and he shuts up.

"I think," I say, stepping in for Daichi, "what Daichi is trying to say sensei, is that you look young? How old are you?"

"Ah," he stands back up to his full height, "I am 21."

"Really? You look younger. Are you sure you're only 21?!" Daichi exclaims.

"Yes, I'm sure. We'll discuss these things later. Right now, I think we should go some place else and get to know each other, ya?"

We nod in agreement and begin to follow our sensei to wherever he's taking us, when another team comes out of the academy doors. I catch a familar hint of pink hair and the moment I realize who it is and who they're with I hear someone yell, "Takara!"

I turn around to see Naruto start to make his way over, but Sasuke grabs him by his jacket collar and pulls him back.

"Kakashi...," I hear our sensei mutter. What? Who's Kakashi. Next thing I know, our sensei is strolling over to Naruto's team with his hands in his pockets.

"What is he doing?" Daichi asks. Ichirou shrugs and trails our sensei. Daichi and I follow Ichirou soon after.

"Kakashi," our sensei says to Naruto's jounin sensei. I get it now.

"Masaru, how are you?" Kakashi asks our sensei. So that's his name.

"Masaru? Who's...ooohhh," Daichi says, finally catching on.

Ichirou rolls his eyes. "I guess we know who the slow one is."

"Hey!"

"Fine. I see you've met your team; what do you think?" Masaru-sensei asks.

Kakashi shrugs. "Based off my first impression, they're all idiots." They all slouched at their sensei's insult. "What about you?"

"Ah, I don't know. I haven't really seen anything impressive about my team either." Now it was our turn to slouch.

"Uh, hello? We're right here, sensei," Daichi says, waving his hand.

Masaru-sensei ignores us and continues his conversation with Kakashi. Both jounin seem so laid back and chill. I wonder if they act like this all the time. It's like they have no emotion, yet they're goofy.

"You aren't going to use the same old trick Minato used on you on your students, are you?" Masaru-sensei asked.

I saw his black mask that covered his face move slightly. Could that be a smirk?

"Don't spoil the surpise, Masaru. What about you? Same old silly waterfall trick?"

Masaru-sensei smirk lazily and turned around. He lifted one of his hand from his pocket to wave back at Kakashi as he walked away. "You bet," he said.

"Uh - um, sensei!" Daichi yelled, running after him.

"Bye Naruto!" I waved as Ichirou and I ran to catch up to our sensei.

"So you're name is Masaru?" Daichi was asking when we reached them.

Our sensei answered with a nod.

"How do you know Kakashi Hatake, Masaru-sensei?" Ichirou asked. I raised a brow. _Someone has been doing their homework._

Our sensei seemed to think the same thing as he stared at Ichirou. "An old friend. How do _you_ know Kakashi?"

Ichirou just turned away, not answering.

"Well, this seems like as good of a place as any." Our sensei stopped on the side of the path leading around the village and sat on a bench. "Tell me about yourselves."

I furrow my brows and open my mouth, suggesting that he introduces himself first since he is our sensei, but Daichi's voice cuts in first.

"I'm Daichi Hamasaki and I am 12 years old. I'm going to be a sanin one day and going to be the coolest ninja ever. Everyone will want advice from me! I like dogs, food, my friends, training, and beating my brother while training. I don't like expired food, people with attitudes, and that old guy at the BBQ resturaunt. He kicks me out everytime, saying that I'm smuggling food, which is totally a lie!" A flush comes over his cheeks. "Oh, and I don't like running after eating. I tried it, and it is 100% a bad idea."

I smile, picking at my pants. Looks like I have some competetion when it comes to becoming the best ninja.

"...Okay. Next."

When Ichirou doesn't go, I jump in. "I'm Takara Mizushima. I'm 12 and my dream is to become the strongest ninja. I like my family, friends, ramen, reading, painting, training with my father, and my katana. I dislike liars, traders, people who brood," I say, thinking of Sasuke, "and losing. I speacialize in taijutsu and excel in chakra control. Aaanndd...I'm not that good at genjutsu...at all." Being our sensei, he might as well know our stengths and weaknesses if he doesn't already.

He nods. "Good, next."

"My name is Ichirou Tsukuda. I hope to one day control this power that I hold and to redeem my parent's name. I like my friends, improving my strength by training, and combat. I dislike...hmm...anything else. I'm fairly well in any category of jutsu, I guess taijutsu is my strongest though."

"Well, you all are definately an interesting groups of kids -"

"- What about you, sensei? Tell us about yourself." Daichi cuts in.

"Me? Well, as you already know, I'm Masaru Saito and I'm 21, as you already know. I've already achieved my last dream and haven't came up with a new one. I like...things that don't annoy me. I dislike things that do annoy me. Which lucky for you three, currently you don't annoy me." He gives us a closed eyed smile. "I am in equal strength in all three catergories: taijutsu, genjutsu, and ninjutsu. But I prefer to fight with ninjustu and taijutsu."

All three of us stare at him in disbelief.

"But..," Daichi sputters, "you barely told us anything about yourself!"

"For once, I agree with the baka." Ichirou says, causing Daichi to complain about his 'newly aquired' nickname.

Masaru-sensei shrugs and stands from the bench to stretch. "Tomorrow morning we are going to have a small little training exercise."

We all sigh in complaint and Daichi being the loud mouth he is, says what we're all thinking. "What? A training exercise? We did this kind of stuff all the time in the academy and we just graduated. Can't we get a break?"

"If you want to be ninjas, you have to realize that they don't get breaks sometimes." Our sensei started to walk away. "Meet here at sunrise, I'll take you to our training ground from here."

"Wait, sensei," Ichirou stands from the path, "You said 'if you want to be ninjas, you have to realise that they don't get breaks sometimes'?"

Our sensei stopped and turned around, a small smirk on his face. "I did."

"But aren't we already ninjas?" My eyes widen, finally getting at where Ichirou was coming from, but Daichi still looked as confused at ever. "What do you mean by that?"

Masaru-sensei chuckled. "I don't know if you want to know."

"Tell us!" Daichi commanded, catching on last again.

"Well," our sensei's smirk grew, "only nine of the students that graduate the academy will actually move on to become genin. The rest will be sent back."

We all stare at him, mouth's open in shock.

_I am not going back there, _I thought, _I've worked too hard._

"B-but why, sensei?"

"Not everyone can become a genin. You have to have what it takes."

"That means only three teams can become genins though." Ichirou points out.

"That's right. If this group of graduating kids show more promise, they might let four groups pass. But that's only happened three times before."

We all stare at him, still not over the idea of possibly having to go back to the academy for another five or six years.

"Well, remember, sunrise tomorrow." Masaru-sensei gives us a final salute before he walks off, probably to his house.

Daichi is the first to speak. "Sent back to the academy!? Can you believe this!?"

"There's no way. I'm not getting sent back," Ichirou says through gritted teeth.

I take a deep breathe. "Realx guys, we got this. We've got the talent. We just have to show them how much we deserve to be genin over everyone else."

Daichi and Ichirou nod their heads, still aggravated with the idea of all of these years of training being for nothing.

"We are never going back into the academy again."

_(SKIP)_

I drag myself out of bed and I groan at the fact that the sun isn't even up yet. I am _not _a morning person.

I somehow find my way to the spot where we met yesterday and see that Ichirou is already here. I collapse on the bench and let out a sigh.

"You like your sleep, huh?" Ichirou asked. I sensed some laughter in his voice. I simply groaned in response.

I don't know if I fell back asleep or not, but the next thing I noticed was pounding feet. I groggily lifted my head to see Daichi running here. His hair was sticking up and his shirt was inside out. Not to mention that he Leaf headband was crooked and he didn't have shoes on.

"Sorry...I woke...up late..." He panted with his hands on his knees. "I got...dressed as soon...as I could...and ran over."

"Well you're fine. Masaru-sensei isn't even here yet. I could have gotten an extra thiry minutes," I grumble.

"You're pants are on backwards," Ichirou observed.

"Really!? Oh no, great..." Daichi muttered, heading into the forest, no doubt to rearrange his clothes so he was wearing them properly.

We waited for Masaru-sensei for what seemed like hours, but I knew it was probably only thirty minutes or so. When he finally showed up, the sun wasn't even touching the horizon anymore.

"You're late," Ichirou grumbled.

Our sensi shurgged. "I said you three had to be here at sunrise. I never said what time I would show up."

Masaru-sensei brought us to another opening deep into the woods. This area was much smaller than the area my father and I use. This area had only around a 50 yeard radius. Three sides of the opening were surrounded by tree, while the fourth side was against a cliff and off that cliff came a waterfall. It was huge and all three of us stared at it in awe. The waterfall must have been at least 200 feet high, probably more. The water from the waterfall creates a pond that ends up streaming off somewhere into the woods.

"This place is beautiful," I say and Daichi nods in agreement.

"This where my sensei brought us for our training exercise and where his sensei brought him. I've known this place for quite awhile," Masaru-sensei explained.

"So what is the training exercise?" Ichirou asked curiously. We were all thinking that.

He points to the waterfall. "Look closely. You see that glint of light behind the waterfall? It's a string. The string is holding a key. I need you to retrieve it for me."

I squint my eyes, trying to find a string. I spot a flash of silver and finally spot it. Sure enough, at the end of it was a tiny golden key.

"Retrieving the key? That's it? This is going to be a piece of cake," Daichi cracks his knuckles, trying to act all macho and starts to make his way towards the waterfall.

"Hold up," Ichirou places a hand on his shoulder, "that can't be all."

"Oh, right. I forgot to mentioned you can't use any jutsus," our eyes nearly pop out of our heads at that, "at all."

At least he doesn't know about my clan's speciality. It revolves around chakra. I'll have that key in no time.

"And no using any special chakra techniques either," he says, looking especially at me.

"But sensei, that key is over fifty feet in the air. How are we suppose to get it without using jutsu or chakra techniques?"

Masaru-sensei shurgged and walked over to a tree. "That's for you to find out. Wake me when you've retrieved it. And don't use any jutsus or chakra techniques; I will know if you did."

Ichirou, Daichi, and I stood there for a good two minutes while our sensei snoozed off.

"How the heck to we get that key without our jutsus? This exercise is stupid!" Daichi complains, staring up at the key.

I look over at Ichirou and find his staring at it too. _He's analyzing the situation and his surroundings. Smart._

"The rocks look too slippery to climb on. Not to mention that this side of the cliff happens to be as flat as a sheet of paper. I doubt you could even get up there with glue on your hands." Ichirou said.

It was like a light bulb went off in my head. "I got it."

They both turned to me. "Huh?" "What do you mean?" they both said.

"In my clan, you learn chakra control at a very young age. I could channel large amounts of chakra into my hands and tips of my feet so I can climb the cliff. Maybe I can grab the key," I explain.

"That's a great idea, Takara!" Daichi smiles, "But wait...didn't sensei say no chakra techniques?"

"Chakra control is basic knowledge that every ninja needs to know. I would hardly call it a technique."

"I agree," Ichirou nods. "It's worth a try, Takara."

I nod and try to concentrate chakra into my hands and feet. I walk up to the cliff and place one of my hands on it's smooth wall. I test it's duribility by gently hoisting myself up. I stay put. I place my other hand above and dig my feet into the shallow, almost nonexsistant, ridges in the cliffside and begin to climb.

"You did it!" Daichi exclaims.

"Shut up, baka! She needs to concentrate!"

After awhile of climbing, I become out of breathe. I look up to see how much I have left and find out that I'm not even half way there.

"I should...of ate...breakfast," I panted. _And I definately shouldn't have skipped dinner last night either._

"Hey, Takara, you okay!?"

"Yay! I-I'm...fine!" I yell back down.

"No you're not. You're exhausted, aren't you?" Ichirou says from below.

I ground my teeth together and keep climbing. _Don't give up. You are not going back._

I finally make it to where the key is, but I feel to fatigued to even lift a finger. But I can't stop now.

"I know this is a lot to ask, but do you think you can gather up chakra in your feet and jump to the key?" Ichirou asks. I know he's shouting, but thanks to the wind up here, I can barely hear him.

"Y-ya!" I shout back.

I concentrate the a large amount of chakra into my feet again and prepare to jump. I angle my body to make it a more accessible jump and lock my eyes on the gleaming target and then I jump.

I reach my hand out, ready to grasp the key, but as soon as I get within five yards of it, I feel myself falling. I barely have time to hold my breathe before I plunge into the refreshing pond beneath the waterfall.

I desperately make jerky movements to climb to the drop, realizing I don't have much oxygen in my lungs. I break the surface, coughing up water and gasping for air. Daichi and Ichirou are right beside, each of them grabbing an arm and pulling me out of the water.

"Are you alright!?" Daichi asks, concerned. He's patting my back as I continue to cough up water. "Should I wake up Masaru-sensei?"

"No," I croak out, taking a mouthful of air, "No. I-I'm fine. The jump was just...too far. I couldn't use much chakra for the jump because I exhausted myself on the climb up."

I was expecting them to be as mad at me as I was with myself, but Daichi smiled and said "No problem!" while Ichirou thanked me for trying.

"It was worth a shot," he said, "We'll just have to find another way."

"What? And have someone get hurt again?" Daichi crosses his arms. "I saw we just use a jutsu. It's not like Masaru-sensei is going to see anything. He's fast asleep." Daichi waves his hands in front of sensei's face just to be sure. "See?"

Ichirou shakes his head. "He told us no jutsus. You have to learn follow commands, Daichi."

"Whatever," he scoffs. "I got this. Clone Jut- Ah!"

Before Daichi could finish the jutsu, Masaru-senei appeared behind him and pushed him over.

Daichi rolled over to stare at his sensei with a little bit of fear and nervousness.

He pointed at the boy on the ground. "I said no jutsus or chakra techniques!" Sensei said in a creepy voice that sent shivers down all of our spines.

"B-but it's impossible!"

"Masaru-sensei, we're not going to get penalized because one of our team members is an idiot, right?" Ichirou asks hopefully.

He stared at us for a long time, making our faces go red with anticipation. He finally gives us another closed eyed smile. "Oh course not." He ruffled Daichi's hair and then in an completely serious tone, says, "Just make sure this one doesn't do something stupid like that again or you all _will_ be sent back to the academy."

And with that he walks off and all of our sweat drops. I march right up to Daichi and wack his upside the head while Ichirou glares at him.

"Ow! Why are you two always taking turns hitting me?" He whines, holding his head.

"'Cause you're an idiot!" Ichirou and I yell at the same time.

_(Skip)_

We've tried everything. I tried gathering chakra into my feet and jumping up the cliffside, I tried running up it, Ichirou tried to use his shiriken to cut down the rope, but it was completely blocked off by the water. Daichi tried to throw a kunai at the key to knock it off: he missed. But it wasn't that bas because we all missed. The water pressure and the height was too much. Daichi and Ichirou walked along the cliff in opposite directions to see if there was a way up besides climbing the smooth wall, they found none. It was like this place was specially created for this kind of stuff. At a last attempt, we even threw a stick. It didn't work; nothing did.

It was almost noon, based off the fact that the sun was in the middle of the sky, and we still had no key.

_Great, I'm about to miss three meals in a row, _I thought as my stomach growled.

"Maybe we should- "

"If you're about to suggest that we use a jutsu, I will make sure you will never have kids," I threaten, cutting of Daichi.

"I was actually going to say maybe we should take a break. We've been working at this for hours and we're all really stressed. We just need to calm down and regroup."

I look at him in astonishment and Ichirou smirks. "I think that's the smartest thing you've ever said."

So we take a break and sit by the pond, our feet in the water. The sun bakes my pale skin and I can feel my skin starting to get sunburnt.

No one says anything for awhile. All you hear is the loud crash of the waterfall and the tree branches stirring in the wind. I tip my head back and close my eyes.

"How do you think Masaru-sensei passed this traing exercise?" Daichi asks out of the blue, "I mean, he must have passed of else he wouldn't be our sensei, ya know?"

I turn to Ichirou, but he also has his eyes closed. "I don't know," he said, "but he's obviously better than us."

"Ya," Daichi kicks his feet in the water, "His team must of been great too. There's no way anyone could just jump up there and get that key by themselves."

Ichirou and I freeze and turn towards each other. Of course!

"What?" Daichi pulls his feet out of the water, "What is it?"

"Daichi, I think you're secretly a genius." I say as I stand up.

"What did I say!? Someone fill me in!"

"We've been working with our team, but not _as_ a team," Ichirou explains, "We've been planning together, but we haven't actually worked together to get the key."

"Oh, I see where you're going. But I still don't know how all three on us are going to get up there?"

"No, only one of us will, but with the help of the other two. Tell me, Daichi, you're not afraid of heights or anything, right?" I ask.

_(SKIP)_

We have it all mapped out. Ichirou practices in chakra control too, and even though he's not as good as me, he's still above average for his age. He his going to concentrate chakra into his hands to boost Daichi up in the air while Daichi prepares chakra into his feet to jump. He doesn't know much about chakra control, but hopefully, he can pull this off. Of course the jump isn't going to get him all the way to the key, but it will get him pretty high. I'll be waiting on the cliffside a little over halfway up. My job is to give Daichi an extra boost with my chakra and act as a shield so the force of the water doesn't shoot him straight down. From then on out, whether we get the key or not, will be all up to Daichi. On the way down, Ichirou will catch Daichi so he doesn't seriously injure himself. Knowing Daichi, that's exactly what he would do.

"Are you ready!?" I yell from thirty five or so feet up the cliff.

"You bet!" I hear Daichi yell back, but I swear I can see him shaking. It turns out, he is scared of heights.

"Ready, Ichirou?" It's all of nothing, right here.

"Are you?" He smirks.

"Okay...ready? Go!"

It all seems to happen in slow motion. Ichirou bends down, Daichi standing in his hands. I see a bright blue flash and Ichirou's muscles strain before Daichi sails into the air. I watch him carefully and wait until it is my time to launch off. When his eyes meet with mine, I push off from the cliffside and wrap my arms around Daichi's waist, so I'm holding him from behind. I feel the hard pressure of the water hit me back, sending me down. I send a surge of chakra to Daichi, speeding up his lost momentem, as I fall.

_This is it. He's gotta get it._

I see Daichi reach out as long as his arm will let him. His fingers brush against the key, swaying it. His momentem begins to fade again and he starts to fall as well.

_No. I didn't give him enough. He doesn't have enough chakra to make it._

"No!" I hear him groan in aggravation. He grunts as he swings his body around, causing his foot to be up in the air and his head pointed towards the ground.

_What is he doing. If Ichirou doesn't get there to catch him in time, he's dead._

Daichi grits his teeth and kicks his legs up at hard as he can. His foot hits the key and it falls off towards the waterfall. Daichi reaches out for the key again and this time, he grabs it.

I feel myself smile before I plunge into the pond again. I swim up to the surface, hoping that I Daichi grabbing the key was real and that Ichirou managed to catch him on time. When I pull myself out of the water, I see Ichirou on his back, our of breathe, as well as a very exhausted Daichi on top of him.

"Daichi, please tell me..." I take a step closer.

Although Daichi's panting, he breaks out in a grin and holds up a golden key dangling from his fingers. "Is this what you want?"

A smile washes over my face and I pull up and hug him tightly. "Gosh, you're the best, Daichi!"

"I know," he says cockily.

"Ya...don't help...me or...anything. I was just...a human...mattress.." Ichirou pants. Daichi and I laugh and each of us take a hand to pull him up.

"Well you suck at it. You weren't comfortable at all," Daichi points out.

Ichirou cracks a smile, "I'll remember that...and next time...just let you fall."

We all laugh, but are cut short when we sense someone step out from behind the trees. We all turn to see Masaru-sensei standing there, applauding us.

"Very good."

"You were there the whole time?" Daichi asks.

He nods. "I saw everything. You all did very well."

"Wait, if you were standing there the whole time, how come I didn't notice you're chakra?" I ask, "I am a sensory ninja?"

"I am a jounin and you are simple genin, I'm bound to know more tricks than you," he smirks.

"Wait, genin?" Daichi questions

"Does that mean we pass?" Ichirou presses. I leaned forward, waiting for the answer.

Our sensei smiles the first genuine smile since we've met him. "Yes. You passed. You are all genin now."

**Yay! Chapter Three is done. I had fun with their 'training exercise'. I came up with it on my own and thought it was pretty good. Hopefully, the next chapter will be up soon. Keep on reading!**


	6. Chapter Four

**Chapter Four**

_Takara POV_

"So," Daichi says, munching on his lunch, "what does that key unlock, exactly?"

It's been twenty minutes since we passed our training exercise and we've all calmed down and decided to set and each some lunch. I practically inhaled mine ad Ichirou and Daichi weren't far behind either.

"Oh, well," our sensei scratches the back of his head, "I don't really know."

I raise an eyebrow, "What do you mean you don't really know?"

Our sensei lets out a nervous chuckle, "I didn't lie about how my sensei made us do this exact training size, it's just...the thing is we never actually got the key."

All of us choked on our food. "What?" Daichi croaked.

"We worked together as a team, but never retrieved the key. You see, this test is even quite difficult for new ninjas. You need to be superior in chakra control, which luckily, you three - or two - did." Masaru-sensei expalins, earning a "Hey!" from Daichi from his last statement.

"Our sensei passed us, even though we didn't retrieve the key, because we worked as a team."

"So that's it? We just had to work as a team?" Ichirou questioned.

Our sensie nodded and Daichi jumped up and shook his fist. "Are you serious! So, we didn't really need the key to pass!?"

Masaru-sensei gave us a closed eyed smile."Yep, that's exactly what he's saying."

Daichi made his way towards our sensei angrily, but Ichirou yanked him back down to the ground. "So, when do we go on our first mission?" He tried to say it without sounded too eager, but I saw right through it. I couldn't blame him though, I was excited too.

"Tomorrow."

"Ooohh, what's it gonna be!? Tracking down a stolen jewel? Capturing a group of bandits? Escorting a princess?" Daichi asks, excitedly. I rolled my eyes. I guess he completely forget about how mad he was at Masaru-sensei moments ago. That boy.

"We will be..."

We all leaned forward in suspense.

"...replanting someone's garden for them."

We all fell back.

"What kind of mission is that?!" Daichi complained.

I nodded. "For once, I agree with him. We're genin now. We've done more dangerous stuff in the academy!"

"You may all be genin now," our sensei explained, "but you're not experienced enough to do the kind of missions chunin or jounin do yet."

"So then when will we be ready?" Ichirou askas.

"Mmmm, anywhere from 4 to 6 months...maybe."

"What!? So we have to do to 4 to 6 months of gardening?!" Daichi bursts out.

"Maybe 7 or 8," our sensei shrugged, "I didn't go on my first real mission until a year after I became a genin."

"B-but we can do this!" Daichi tried to come at him from a different angle, "You said yourself that passing this test is hard for normal genin, and that even your team didn't pass. We did, we're strong and good at working together. We're ready to be sent on a real mission.

Ichirou and I nod in agreement. Daichi can really be smart and motivational when he needs to be. But he's right. If what Masaru-sensei says is true, and that this exercise is hard for normal genin, then that means we show more promise than the average genin. They need to give us a chance.

"We may think you're ready, but you're not really ready. As soon as we let you out of this village, you'll proabably come running back with your tail between your legs in no time."

"I will not!" Daich protests, "I am a ninja now and I will act like one. They don't just give these to anyone!" He points to his Leaf heaedband.

Our sensei sighs and stands up. "Meet me at the same place we met this morning at noon tomorrow. We have a mission." He stuffs his hands in his pockets and walks off into the forest.

"Don't you mean 'we have some gardening to do'!?" Daichi yells after him, but Masaru-sensei keeps walking, not acknowledging him at all.

"Ugh! Ninja do not garden! This is stupid!" Daichi growls, pacing.

"Stop in Daichi. Complaining gets us nowhere, as you just saw," Ichirou gestures to our sensei's retreating form and stands up too.

"What? Aren't you upset, Ichirou?"

"Of course I am. I didn't just go through five years in the academy for this."

I stood up and joined the two. "What are we gonna do? We can't just wait 6 months for a real mission?"

"We just have to act like it doesn't bother us. Real ninja wouldn't complain. We need to show them that we're mature enough to handle a real mission," Ichirou says and I nod. We both look at Daichi, making sure he understands the message.

He crosses his arms and rolls his eyes, "Got it."

We all head back to the village, so enthralled about our 'mission' tomorrow. Note the sarcasm.

"I wonder how all the other teams did. I mean, they had to go through something like this too in order to become genins, right?" Daichi pointed out.

This was the first time I've thought about something like that. My mind immediately goes to Naruto. I hope his team made it.

Ichirou shrugged, "Masaru-sensei said the key is teamwork. For some of the teams, that might be hard for them."

My mind wandered off to Naruto's team again. Ya, good luck with that. They're all so stubborn. Sasuke would probably rather die than ask for help, same with Naruto.

"Ya," Daichi agrees, kicking up some rocks as he trudges his feet.

"This is my stop. See you guys tomorrow." Ichirou says as he heads on a different path to I don't know where. I remember hearing when I was younger, that his parents died when he was young and that he lives alone. No one really knows where though.

Daichi and I continue down the path in silence. "I know I'm am idiot sometimes, but I'm really happy with our team."

I smile and look over at him, "I like our team too. And ya, you are kind of an idiot," we laugh, "but it's the good kind of idiot." _Like Naruto._

He looks over at me surprised. The look he gives me reminds me of the look Naruto gave me so many years ago when I first met him. It's that look of astonishment. Like they never thought in a million years someone would say something like that to them.

"You good there?"

He shakes his head and smiles, "Ya, sorry. I kind of space off every once in awhile."

We don't say anything else for awhile, but after a few minutes, Daichi stops the silence.

"We're friends, right? I mean, I know we just officially met yesterday and everything, but...we are friends, ya?"

I smile and gently punch his arm while we're walking, "Of course, you idiot."

"I just...really like you two. It would kind of be stupid to not be friends wiht your team. But I'm not only friends with you guys because we're on the same team, I'm friends with you guys because-"

"- because you really like us." I finish. "The feelings mutual."

I look up and see wall with a familar clan symbol on them. "I gotta go. See you tomorrow, Daichi." I wave and head off into our clan's compound.

_Yes, I can definately see myself having a great time with my team in the future._

_(SKIP)_

We finish planting all the flowers a little after four. Masaru-sensei is apparently a slacker. He came up with this lame excuse that he had to help this lady carry her bags so he could get out of helping us plant. He he would've lended us a hand, we would've gotten done a lot sooner. Not to mention that it was scorching hot today. We had to take a short break about every thirty minutes or else we would have melted.

But we did good at not complaining. None of us said one word to Masaru-sensei about how stupid the 'mission' was, not even Daichi.

I was completely ready to head straight to my air-conditioned home and sleep, I think we all were, but when I saw Naruto and his team standing at the village gates, I stopped.

"Is that...Sasuke?" Ichirou squints, seeing the same thing I do.

Daichi looks over at the gates too. "They look like...they're packing for something." His eyes widen in recognition. "They're going on a mission! A real one! Outside of the village! How!? That's so not fair!" Daichi marches over there. So much for trying not to complain. But I'm just as curious as he is to see what they're doing getting sent on a real mission.

"Hey, Takara!" Naruto waves as he sees me. I open my mouth to respond, but get cut off once again by the cut off master.

"What are you guys doing!?" Daichi points at Naruto accusingly, "You're not going on a _real mission, _are you?"

Naruto's smile could light up a whole room and he gives Daichi a thumbs up. "You bet we are!"

We all turn on our sensei, aggravation set across our faces. "Masaru-sensei!"

He waves his hands in front of him nervously, "Hey, hey, hey, don't get mad at me. How did you even manage to score your team a mission like this?"

Kakashi lets out a sigh and shrugs, "I have no idea."

"Well this isn't fair! Both of our teams graduated at the same time! If they get a real mission, we should too!"

I mentally applauded Daichi. He does all of our work for us.

It was our sensei's turn to sigh. "It doesn't work like that, Daichi."

"Sure it does! I'll march straight up to the Hokage and make it that way!" He starts to leave, but Ichirou grabs his collar and pulls him back.

"You can't just go up to the Hokage and demand to be sent on a real mission, you idiot!" He scolds.

"Uh...that's what I did," Naruto said meekly.

"Shut up, Naruto!" Sakura wacked him in the back of the head.

"Hn, Loser." Sasuke mumbled. He stood there without a care in the world. Baka.

"Naruto, you make my job so much harder," Masaru-sensei said as Daichi struggled even more in Ichirou's grip.

"What!? That's it!"

"Cut it out, idiot!"

"He just gave you the mission?" I asked, very surprised. Like Ichirou said, the Hokage is the Hokage. They shouldn't give in to anyone, yet the Hokage just gave Naruto what he wanted.

Naruto was nursing his new injury that Sakura gave him and quickly nodded.

I quickly turned and ran to the Hokage's building, avoiding sensei's and Ichirou's hands.

"Takara!" Ichirou yells, but I keep running and never slow down until I reach the building.

"Third Hokage!" I yell, pushing the doors open to his office without permission.

He looks up from his desk, his eyebrow raised, and a smoking pipe in his mouth.

Masaru-sensei, Ichirou, and Daichi run in shortly after I do.

"How are you that fast?" Daichi pants.

"Third Hokage, I say this with no disrespect, please let us go on a real mi-" I begin, but our sensei marches us and puts his hand over my mouth and pulls me pack.

"Ah, hehe, sorry Lord Third Hokage. This one spent a little bit too much time in the sun today."

I elbow him in the stomach hard and step forward, ripping his hand from my mouth. "How would you know!? You weren't even there! Third Hokage, you have to let us go on a mission, a real mission. I realize that this is extremely disrespectful to come out and say, especailly after just become genin. But we really want this. We're strong and we work together well. In order to become a stronger ninja, I need this! We all do! Please, Third Hokage!" I bow my head in respect and Ichirou and Daichi shuffle to my side and do the same.

"Lord Third Hokage, I am so sorry for these three's actions. As their sensei, I take full responsibility"

The Hokage ignores Masaru-senesi and focuses his attention on me. "Does this have anything to do with seeing Team 7 going on a mission?"

I smile sheepishly, "Maybe," I admit.

"Tell me, are you friends with Naruto?"

That question threw me a bit off guard. "Uh, ya, I guess."

"Lord Third Hokage- ," our sensei tries again.

"You are to set off tomorrow morning at seven. Your mission is a C-ranked mission. You are to rendezvous with a group of travelers from the Hidden Mist at these coordinates and give them this." He holds out a peice of paper and a package and hands them to our surprised and speechless sensei. "Under no condition do you open that package, do you understand?"

My mouth kept opening and closing. I probably looked like a fish. "W-what? You mean you're actually giving us a mission?"

The Hokage smiles and nods, leaving us all in stunned silence. "Well move on, now. I have lots of business to take care of. You better get a good night's rest before your mission tomorrow."

We all walk out the building, still in shock. He actually gave us a mission.

"Did that really just happen?" Daichi asks, astonished. I nod in response.

"You three..."

We all turn to our sensei, expecting him to scold us. But we see him holding his hand to his forehead, his eyes closed. "You three are such a handful...," he sighs.

We finally all crack a smile and laugh.

"I can't believe it! That actually worked. We're going on our very first _real _mission tomorrow. You're a genius, Takara!" Daichi exclaims, coming up to hug me.

"And as for you..."

I turn around slowly to face Masaru-senesi, rubbing the back of my head. I give him an innocent smile.

His frown fell of his face, "way to pull the strings."

I laugh and everyone else joins in. It's weird getting praised by my sensei when I really should be getting scolded, but it felt nice.

"Well you heard Lord Third Hokage, go get a good night's rest for our mission tomorrow. Meet at the gates at six thirty."

_(SKIP)_

"I knew that idiot was going to be late," Ichirou said while lifting the strap of his bag higher on to his shoulder.

I sighed, sitting against the huge wall that surrounded the whole village. It was 6:52 and all three of us were waiting for Daichi. I could've guess he was going to be late after two days ago. He was nearly late to our training exercise. But today is the real thing, we're going on a mission outside of the village.

I wonder what the Hokage gave Masaru-sensei?

I looked up to see our sensei leaning against the wall, his eyes closed. I saw the lump in his traveling bag on his back. What can be in that package?

"Hey! Sorry I'm late guys!" Daichi yells, his pack on his back.

"Pft, sure you are," Ichirou scoffs.

I stand up and Masaru-senesi pushes off the wall and stands in front of the opened gates. I look past him at the ground beyond the village. It looks just like inside the village, but...bigger.

"Okay, Team 4, this is our first mission together as ninja. We are expected to act like ninja. You are no longer goofy kids who learn jutsus from a book. Today we are leaving the village to deliver a very important package to members from the Hidden Mist. We cannot fail. Are you ready?"

"You bet!" Daichi cheers.

"I've been ready for twenty minutes," is Ichirou's repsonse.

"Let's go!" I say.

"Alright, come on." Our sensei turns around and starts walking.

We all look at each other before following. This is the first time I've ever been outside of the village. I can't help the bright smile that spreads across my face as I pass the gates. I don't even feel nervous or scared for our mission. I feel excited.

_So this is what it feels like to be a ninja? I like it._

**This chapter was kinda boring and short. It was mostly a filler. The next chapter will get more exciting.**


	7. Chapter Five

**Chapter Five**

_Takara POV_

"So, sensei, where are we going exactly?" Daichi questions.

We've been walking for hours now, but I don't find myself bored at all. Maybe it's because of the high of going on our first mission. It's my first time out of the village and I feel so grown up. I like that feeling. Even though everything out here looks similar as everything in the village, it looks more beautiful, fresher. I feel like the possibilities are endless out here. I feel free.

"We're almost there," is all our sensei says.

"Really? We're that close!? Well what do the people we're suppose to meet look like? Shouldn't we know, just incase they turn out to be imposters?" Daichi says, catching up to Masaru-sensei how is in the front of our group.

"There won't be any imposter there."

"Well, how do you know?" Daichi counters.

He shrugs, "I just know."

It stays quiet for awhile longer, but then Daichi jumps in again. I guess he can't keep his mouth shut for that long.

"So do you have any idea what's in the package, sensei?" He grabs the pack on his back and Masaru-sensei stops to pry his hands off of it.

"No, I don't. And I never plan to find out. We have a mission to deliver it."

"But couldn't we just take a tiny lo- "

"No."

"You idiot," Ichirou says, "the mission was to deliver it and the Hokage said no peaking."

"He's right, Daichi. You need to learn to follow the orders given." I say, walking past him.

"Says the one who marched into the Hokage's office and demanded to be given a real mission," he grumbled and I smacked him in the back of the head, making him fall to the groud.

"Ow, Takara..."

"Shhh, be quiet you three," our sensei stops and tenses.

"Wha...?" Daichi stands up and moves forward, but Masaru-sensei throughs his hand out, stopping him.

We all freeze and tense. I can't hear anything or see anything, but something about this is...off. What could be wrong? Are we being attacked? By who?

All I can hear is the wind and the eratic beating of my heart as we stand there, in a circle formation. We scan our surroundings, looking for anything suspicious. We all jerk our heads to the sound when we hear the leaves rattle. Next thing we know, a dozen kunai shoot out, aimed straight for us.

I quickly react and pull a kunai from my holster and deflect the of kunai that are heading to me. Daichi, Ichirou, and Masaru-sensei do the same.

"What was that!?" Daichi yells, crouched and ready to attack.

Before our sensei can answer a group of five people came flying from the trees and came to land in front of us. Three of them were men, one a women. I couldn't determine the gender of the last one because they wore a mask and a kimono. One of the men seemed to be unconscious and was supported completely by one of the other men. Masaru-sensei takes a defensive stance in front of us and narrows his eyes at the attackers, analyzing them.

His eyes widen, "Head back to the village, you three."

My brows furrow in confusion and Daichi takes the words right out of my mouth. "Why? Sensei, if these four are the enemy, we need to defeat them toget-"

"No!" We all grow quiet as we see a side of our sensei that's never emerged before. It's his battle side. He a full fledged jounin ready to fight. No more smiles or jokes, he is tense and comanding. "Ichirou, take these two and head back to the village. Now," he says to the more logical of the three.

But Ichirou shakes his head, "No, sensei. We knew running into something like this was a possibility. We will stick next to you as your students and as ninjas. We won't run away."

"You three don't understand! This isn't a real mission. Lord Third Hokage made you three think you were being sent on one. There's nothing in this package and the poeple who we were going to meet were Hidden Leaf chunin. Nothing more. These four are the real deal. They're missing nin from the Hidden Mist. Listen to me when I say head back!"

Before any of us could process what our sensei said, another kunai sailed towards us. I dodged it in time, but aparently Daichi wasn't as lucky. He tried to avoid it, but it barely skimmed his arm, slicing it.

He hissed and jumped away, grabbing his newly acquired injury. Masaru-sensei turned around, alarmed. But when he saw that it was only a small nick, he turned back around to face the enemy, glaring. I guess he didn't take well to people harming his students.

"If you four are done chatting, it's time to get down to business." One of the men grinned. I felt my blood freeze. I could see it now. They weren't newbie ninjas like us. They didn''t show an ounce of fear. They were confident. How much blood did they shed to become like this. I could feel the bloodlust in the air and it was directly exactly at us.

"This has nothing to do with these four." Our sensei said, still sheilding us. "Let them head back and you and I can deal with it."

I looked up at him. He seemed so calm. Could he not sense it? Or was he that sure of himself? Was he that good?

"Let them turn back? No way. I'm looking forward to beating these brats."

"I thought I was being rather generous suggesting it to you. I didn't think you would want these kids to see you beaten so badly." Our sensei said boldly.

A vein throbbed in his forehead and he made a move to grab his sword on his back, "Why you..."

My hand unconsciously reached to my katana on my back as he stepped forward.

"Enough, Chiyoko," the one with the mask said. The voice was odd, it seemed like it could belong to a male or female. "You know better than to pick a fight with Masaru Saito."

"But, Haku-," he began, but stopped suddenly when 'Haku' swiftly threw something in his direction and he slouched against a tree.

It took moment for me to realize that Haku had hit him with needles. Senbon. I remember whenever Iruka-sensei taught us about them in class.

_Senbon have many purposes. They can be used for medical precedures, but also as a weapon. They can be deadly due to there small size, but they wielder would have to be very precise._

Did Haku kill him? But they were on the same team?

As much as I hated it, I started shaking. So this is was real ninja were like? Killing their own teammate without a second glance? This is what the outside world is full of?

I felt someone reach down and grab my wavering hand. I looked over to see Daichi smiling softly at me. He looked just as terrified as I did, but he squeezed my hand, as if telling me he was here for me.

"Masaru-sensei..." Ichirou said from behind me,"...is he..."

"No," our sensei said quickly, "He's not dead."

The women went over to aid her fallen teammate, but the other man stayed still behind Haku with the unconcious man.

Neither our sensei or Haku said anything, they just stared each other down.

Finally, Haku says, "Lord Zabuza ran into your friends awhile back. They had some difficulties and seem to be injured."

Friends? Who could she be talking about?

"Is that all you came here to do? Tell us our friends are hurt?" Masura-sensei questioned, still not quite believing that was all.

"I didn't plan to attack you four at all. Chiyoko is impatient and threw the kunai as soon as he sensed you four. He really is a nuisance. I was done with him anyways. Getting into a fight would be unnecessary, so yes, that is all." Haku turned to the man holding 'Zabuza', "Come Etsuko." And without further warning, they fled.

I looked to the spot where Haku struck Chiyoko down to find him and the women were gone as well. I guess sensei was right and that Haku didn't kill him.

As soon as I couldn't sense their chakra anymore, I let out a breathe I hadn't realized I'd been holding. It wasn't until now that I realized _how scared _I actually was. I was terrified. I was scared of what might happen to me. I scoffed and turned around, hiding my face from my team.

_What a great ninja I am._

Masaru-sensei turned around, "We're heading back to the village."

At that point, all I could do was nod. I was too ashamed with myself to do anything else. I'm a ninja for crying out loud. Ninja don't cower like that. But I didn't expect the outside world to be so...violent.

"Sensei, what did Haku mean when he said our friends were injured?" Ichirou asked. So Ichioru thought Haku was a boy..?

Our sensei's face didn't change, but he hesitated. "Nothing."

I noticed Daichi was being unusually quiet so I turned to ask him what he thought, but I stopped when I saw his face. He looked sick and disoriented.

"Daichi?" I asked, but he didn't respond. He just collasped.

I dropped to my knees and was able to catch him before he hit the ground. "Sensei?" I called out, alarmed.

Ichirou and Masaru-sensei quickly surrounded us.

"What's wrong with him?" Ichirou asked. Just like me, he was concerned. This team may have just been put together three days ago, but since then, we have grown close.

Masaru-sensei takes Daichi from my arms, "The kunai.." he cuts off Daichi's whole sleeve with his own kunai to see the wound. When he did so, the wound was revealed and looked purplish.

"Poisoned?" I asked.

Our sensei nods and stands up with Daichi in his arms, but quickly adjusts him so he's on his back. "The kunai that skimmed him was laced in poison. We need to get him to a medic quickly. Hurry, back to the village."

"But sensei, the Hidden Leaf is hours away!" Ichirou points out.

Our sensei grounds his teeth in irritation. "So what's the closest village?" I ask. I look between Ichirou and our sensei, waiting for the answer.

"The Hidden Mist." Masaru-sensei sighs.

"We have to go." Ichirou and I say at the same time. Daichi's breathing seems to be getting shallower by the second.

Our sensei nods and we all take off in the direction of the Hidden Mist.

_(SKIP)_

We made it to the Hidden Mist Village in record time. Regardless of our speed, Daichi looked horrible. We had to stop three times to make sure he was breathing.

I was still shaking, not because of the fear I held towards the missing nin, but because of Daichi's safety. We all didn't know what would happen.

"Hang in there, kid." Masaru-sensei said as we ran through the streets.

"Sensei, where are we heading?" Ichirou asked, keeping his eyes on Daichi's pale form. "We need to get him to a medical ninja as soon as possible."

"I know just the right person to take him to," he says right as we turn the corner and head to a small, broken-down shack. He stops on the small porch that looks like it's going to collapse any second and knocks on the door.

"Uh, sensei, are you sure anyone even lives here?" I ask, but right as I say this, the door opens and an elderly lady opens the door.

"Now what do you think you're doing here, young man! I told you to never come back until you brought back those supplies of mine!" The women scolded.

Our sensei sheepishly rubbed the back of his head. "Oh, yes, I'm so sorry about that. But please," he turns so the lady can see Daichi on his back, "he needs help.

The lady quickly ushers us inside. She, sensei, and Daichi go into another room, leaving Ichirou and I in a cramped room that looks like it could be the dining room.

Ichirou takes a seat at the rotting table and places his head in his hands. I pace the small room, too nervous to sit down.

_Is this lady the medic Masaru-sensei was talking about? Is he going to be okay? Daichi can't die. He can't. We just got put together as a team?_

Ichirou grabs my hands to stop me from biting on my nails and gives me a gentle smile. "He'll be fine, Takara."

I give him a less-conviencing smile and sit beside Ichirou. _He's going to be fine, _I tell myself over and over again.

We wait for what seems like hours before the door opens. I spring up and Ichirou glances at the door. Masaru-sensei gently shuts it behind him and them turns to us with a smile.

I feel a huge weight being lifted off my chest and I smile back. He's okay, he made it.

"He's just fine." Our sensei says, confirming it. "You guys can go in to see him if you want."

I make a move towards the door, but it suddenly springs open and Daichi jumps out, a big smile on his face when he sees us. My smile gets even bigger and I make a move to grab him, but the old lady exits the room and angrily swats Daichi on the back of the head.

"You little brat! I told you to stay still! Your body is still recovering!"

Daichi rubs his head, "Sorry, granny," he grumbled and recieved another swat, this time, by our sensei.

"Show some respect. She just saved your life."

The lady turns on our sensei. "Oh, your the one to talk about respect, Masaru! I remember when you..." she went off, scolding our sensei about what he did in the past, but I completely ignore it.

I embraced Daichi in a bone-crushing hug. "Don't you ever scare us like that again!" I say as he wraps his arms aroung me in return.

When I pull back, Ichirou says, "Good to have you back, idiot" and Daichi grins.

"Are you sure your okay? I mean, you did almost die?" I asked.

"Ya, I'm perfectly fine. I'm just slightly tired, I guess from fighting off the poison. But I'm a ninja, I can endure anything!"

I laugh at his spirit and our sensei quickly shows up behind us, pushing us all out of the door. "Thank you so much, Myo!" He yells as we head away from the cabin.

I raise my eyebrows, and turn to Daichi and Ichirou, wandering what the reason is for us leaving so suddenly.

"Masaru! Get back here, you teme! You owe me supplies, and now, a new table! Masaru!" The granny yelled after us and we quickly left.

When we no longer heard her screaming voice, we slowed down and our sensei's sweat dropped.

"What was that about, Masaru-sensei?" Daichi asked, with a grin.

"Nothing," he sighed.

"Did you repay her in anyway?" I asked, "She saved Daichi's life, ya know?"

He waved it off, "She's a family friend. She did it willingly."

"It didn't wound like she did it willingly." Ichirou muttered and our sensei shrugged.

"Well, where are we going to go now? We can't head back to the village. The sun is setting," I point out.

"And it's not like we can go back to the lady's house after that." Daichi said.

"I don't even know if her house would be big enough for all of us," Ichirou added.

"Hhmmm. I know just the place." Our sensei said, leading us.

We all looked at him, "Is it another pyschotic family friend?" Daichi asked.

"Family friend? Yes. Pyschotic? Debatable."

Our sensei lead us to the outskirts of the village and we headed down a large board walk to a two-story house sitting on a dock over the water.

"When Haku said that some of our friends were injured, I knew what she meant," Masaru-sensei confessed as we walked up to the door.

"You did? So you lied?" Ichirou said accusingly.

Our sensei knocked on the door. "Yes," he admitted, "It wasn't our mission and it wasn't our job to get involved. But since we're already here..."

He trailed off as the door opened and a women answered the door. She had medium length black hair and fair skin. She was wearing a long skirt and a simple white shirt.

She furrowed her brows as she looked over all of us. "Um, I'm sorry...do I know you?"

"Is this where Tazuna lives?" Our sensei asks, flashing a bright smile at the lady.

"Uh...ye- "

"Tsunami, who's at the door?" An deeper voice yelled. An older man suddenly appeared in the door way. He had gray, spiky hair and glasses. He wasn't as old as the women that saved Daichi earlier and clearly enjoyed his sake by the size of his stomach. I recognized him as the man we saw at the gate in Konoha. But sensei didn't show any sign on recognization at the village. Why now?

The man's eyes widened in recognition and a smile took over his face. At least this one was mad.

"Masaru! How's it been!?"

He smile widened when he saw the man. "Tazuna," he greeted, completely ignoring the question. "Listen, my team and I ran into a little trouble and I know you're already housing Kakashi's team, but do you think you have room for four more?"

My eyes widened at the name 'Kakashi'. That was Naruto's sensei, wasn't it. Why are they here? I thought they were just suppose to escort the man. Then it clicked. The friends that Haku mentioned were injured, was Team 7, Naruto's team.

I bit down on my lip to keep from crying out to ask if Naruto was injured. I looked at Ichirou and Daichi to see that they were still processing.

"Um, father..," Tsunami tried to cut in, but Tazuna didn't even notice.

"Sure! Why not!?" He hooked his arm around Masaru-sensei's shoulders and brought him inside. Ichirou, Daichi, and I followed. This house was deifnately nicer and roomier than the granny's house was.

"These squirts yours?" Tazuna asked, finally turning on us. Masaru nodded. "Well, they don't seem as annoying as that other team. The short kid with the big mouth, I wanted to pound him the whole trip. But he actually proved himself useful when we ran into the guy with the sword."

_Wait, they ran into Zabuza?_ Now everything was completely clear.

"Did that kid," I bursted in, "That kid with the bigmouth, did he get hurt?"

"Pppsshh, those kids are fine. It's their sensei that's wiped out. He used this weird eye techinque that completely drained them. They're upstairs if you want to see them."

That was as much of an invitation that I needed. I headed up the stairs, taking two at a time.

"Takara!" Daichi complained, but by the footsteps I heard, I knew they were following.

I made my way down the hallway, and stopped when I saw shadows and heard voices on the other side of the screen. I slide open the door to find four figures in the room. All of them were familar.

Tazuna was right, Kakashi sensei was completely wiped out in the middle of the room on a bed. All of his students are sitting around him: Sakura, Sasuke, and Naruto. They all turn their heads to the door when I open it.

"Takara?" Naruto chokes out, his eyes wide. He looks completely surprised to see me. He composes himself though and in less than a second we're caught in an embrace.

"You're okay, right? Tazuna said you were, but..."

He gives me a blinding smile, "Don't worry about me, Takara, I'm completely fine. Kakashi sensei used up a lot of his chakra with his sharingan though."

"Sharrigan?" Daichi asks. He, Ichirou, Masaru-sensei, and Tazuna are now right behind me.

"It's this awesome eye technique that can- ," he starts, but Sasuke interupts.

"What are you guys doing here?"

We all turn to glare at our sensei, "Well, after you guys said you got a mission, I went to the Third Hokage and asked for one. He gave us one, or so we thought. It was a fake mission so we could technically get what we wanted without really getting put in danger, but we ran into these people named Zabuza and Haku. They told us our friends were hurt. Daichi got poisoned because of a scratch left by a kunai and we couldn't head back to the Hidden Leaf for a medic because it was too far. Luckily, Masaru-sensei knew a medic here and she fixed up Daichi. Since it was too late to head back in the Hidden Leaf, we're staying here. Conveniently, our sensei knows a lot of people around here," I sum up.

"Wait, you ran into Haku and Zabuza? What happened?" Sakura cried.

"They just let us go," I explained, "Haku said there was no reason to fight."

"Why would they fight you?" Sakura asked, confused.

I furrowed my brows, confused as well. Masaru-sensei answered instead. "Whoever this Haku person is, they are the enemy."

"But Haku killed Zabuza," Naruto said.

Okay, now I was more confused that ever. They appeared to be on the same team. Plus, Haku called him 'Lord Zabuza'.

Our sensei shook his head, "Zabuza is not dead."

Sakura gasped and Sasuke clenched his teeth, while Naruto tighten hid hands into fists.

"What do you mean he's not dead? We saw Haku kill him." Naruto pressed.

"Haku was wearing a mask, correct?" When they all nodded, Masaru-sensei continued. "Only Tracker ninja wear those mask. Tracker ninja's jobs are to hunt down missing nin and to elimate them on spot."

"Right. That's what Kakashi-sensei said," Sakura nodded.

"But when we ran into Haku and Zabuza, he was still alive and they were carrying him."

"Maybe they were bringing him somewhere special to kill him?" Naruto said.

"No. They're job is to kill them on spot."

"So what? Are you saying Haku is actually on Zabuza's side? That they just pulled the slip on us?" Sasuke growled.

Masaru-sensei nodded and leaving against the wall. "That's exactly what I'm saying."

"Uuughh! This bites!" Naruto yells, frusterated.

"What's done is done. It would be a suicide mission to go and track them down. We're going to have to wait until they come to us. We might as well get some good rest until then. We'll talk about the rest of this when Kakashi wakes up. Come on everyone, go get some rest." He ruffles Daichi's hair, "Especially you. Your body still hasn't recovered from fighting the poison."

"Ya, ya, ya," Daichi grumbles, fixes his hair.

Tsunami leads us out of Kakashi's room, but then team 7 argues about someone staying with him. Finally, Masaru-sensei volunteers to stay with him. Tsunami takes us to two adjoining rooms.

"Uh, sorry you can't all have your own rooms. I never expected we would be taking in so many ninjas," she apologized.

"It's fine. Thank you," Sakura said. We decided to split up the girls and boys. Sakura and I would have one room, while Naruto, Sasuke, Daichi, and Ichirou would have the other. The numbers were uneven, but eveveryone was okay with it.

We slide open the huge doorway between our rooms so that they were connected for now since we weren't ready to sleep. We would slide them closed afterwards.

We all sat in a circle in the middle of the room with a small candle in the middle, causing out shadows to dance all over the walls.

"So...what was it like to fight Zabuza?" Daichi asks, breaking the awkward silence.

Ichirou turns on him, "Aren't you suppose to be sleeping. Direct orders from Masaru-sensei."

"I'm fine! What? Are you going to tattle on me?" He asks and Ichirou scoffs, but doesn't make a move to tell.

"Ya know, to be honest, I thought it would be more of a challenge," Naruto said in a cocky tone and stretched his arms above his head.

Sakura wacked him, causing him to fall flat on his face. "Naruto! You idiot! I remember you shaking when you saw him!"

_So I wasn't the only one_, I thought.

"I did not!" Naruto argued back. Sakura growled at him and turned away.

"They seemed so intimidating," Daichi admitted, looking at the flame on the candle. "Zabuza was knocked out and they didn't even want to fight it, but I could feel it. The-"

"-bloodlust," Sasuke finished, staring rather intently at the ceiling.

"Ya," Daichi nods. "I wonder if that's the vibe all real ninja's give off?"

"Hey, what are you talking about!?" Naruto yells, "We all are real ninja."

"You know what he means," Ichirou says, "We're genin. We graduated less that a week ago. Compared to Masaru-sensei and Kakashi-sensei, we're no where close to their level. Same with Zabuza and Haku, along with thousands of other ninjas out there."

We all quiet down, knowing it's true. If we went up against those typ eof ninjas now, the real ones, there's no way we would win without Masaru-sensei or Kakashi-sensei.

_And I want to be the best ninja some day. Some dream._

"I will become that strong," Sasuke says, "I don't know about you losers, but I'll be able to kill everyone of those ninjas one day. Every single one."

It would have been motivational, if it weren't for the tone he said it in. It was like a threat. But Naruto being Naruto, took it the wrong way.

"That a way to stay positive, Sasuke!"

Sasuke's eyes drifted over to the blonde genin. "Hn," he said and got up and left the room. The awkward silence drifted over again and Daichi yawned.

"I guess this is a good time to call it a night," Ichirou said, standing up. He grabbed Daichi he his collar and pull him up. "Night."

Sakura and I closed the screen between the rooms.

"Dangit!"

"What's wrong?" Sakura asked.

"Nothing," I slide the small screen open that lead to the hallway, "whenever I came upstairs earlier, I left my bag down there. I'm just going to go grab it."

I tip-toed down the hallway, not wanting to wake anyone. I made it down the stairs without making so much of a sound and grabbed my bag, which laid discarded by the door.

I dug through my bag, making sure all of my stuff was still in there as I headed up the stairs. I suppose I really should have been paying attenion to where I'm going because as soon as I turned the corner, I bumped into something. Or should I say someone? Man, I'm such a good ninja.

My breath caught as I felt myself falling. Firm hands immediately latched on to my forearms to keep me straight up. I looked straight up into annoyed onyx eyes. Sasuke.

"Thanks," I say a little breathlessly, then curse myself for it.

"Hn," he manuevers himself around me and stuffs his hands in his shorts, "Just watch where you're going next time."

I should head back to my room with Sakura, but because of this split-second thought, I turn and say something.

"What did you mean earlier? About being able to kill every ninja? You don't really what to, right?" He stops and I curse myself again as soon as those words leave my mouth. Why do I only say stupid things when I'm around Sasuke? "I mean it's none of my business-?"

"You're right," he turns around, his hands still in his pockets, "it is none of your business."

I feel a sudden wave of anger wash over me. Of course, he picked the typical jerk response. Rude, mysterious, and short.

"God, forget it. I was trying to be nice. You know, like asking if you wanted to talk out your problems, but nevermind."

"Why would I ever want to talk to _you _about _my _problems?"

"Gee, I don't know. Maybe because I'm your frie-"

"You're not my friend," he cut in before I could finish.

"Wow, thanks. Way to push me down again. What is it? Sasuke: 5, Takara:0. Ya, keep at it," I scoff and readjust my bag in my arms.

Sasuke just glares at me, but doesn't walk away.

"I don't know why you keep denying everything. You act as if you hate everyone. For someone who doesn't want it, you sure get a lot of attention."

His eyes narrow, "You don't know anything about me."

"Oh, sure. Throw out that line. No one knows anything about you Sasuke, because you don't let anyone in!" I lower myself when I realize I'm shouting in the middle of the night. "I know what happened to your clan. It must have been horrible. They were your family. You don't have to be alone though. So many people try, but you push them away. If you're lonely, it's no one's fault but yourself."

Sasuke was at the end of the hallway, but in the blink of an eye he was gone and I was suddenly pressed against a wall, my bag at my feet. Sasuke stands in front of me, onyx eyes glaring hatefully at me. His hands hold my wrists painfully against the wall.

"Shut your mouth. Why don't you actually get to know someone before you start insulting them?" He hisses.

I clench my teeth and stare straight back at him, glaring. "If only I could."

I see his jaw tick and he pushes off of me and heads straight back into the boys room.

I glare at his retreating form and snatch my bag off the ground.

_God, he's so annoying. He's always like 'you don't know me'. Well, no duh! You never let anyone in._

"Did you find your bag?" Sakura asked when I entered the room.

"Ya," I say as I place my bag in the corner and lay down in my bed.

"Did something happen? You took an awful long time."

I thought of the anger in Sasuke's onyx eyes. "No. Nothing happened."

**Sooooo... what do you think about Sasuke and Takara's little argument? This chapter was suppose to be a lot longer, but I figured this was a good place to cut it off. Sorry I haven't been updating as much, I've had sports. Right now I have a week break so hopefully I can get up one, if not two, more chapters before basketball starts. Please keep reading and reviewing. I don't type this on Word so it doesn't have spellcheck. **


	8. Chapter Six

**Chapter Six**

_Takara's POV_

I didn't realize how tired I was until I fell asleep. Ever since I graduated from the academy, I've had to wake up at the crack of dawn each day for something. It felt nice to be able to sleep in.

When I finally dragged myself out of bed, Sakura was gone. I made my way downstairs to find her, Ichirou, Sasuke, and Masaru-sensei. I guess Naruto and Daichi are still sleeping.

Sasuke and I caught each other's eye and immediately looked away. I was still angry with him, but after a good night's rest, I felt kind of bad. I did kind of lash out at him after he lashed out on me. But he's right. I don't know anything about his past other than the murder of his clan. I can never relate to the pain he must have felt. I have to apologize next time it's just us.

"Has Kakashi-sensei woken up yet?" I ask and Sakura shakes her head.

"He'll be fine. He's just sleeping off the side effects of the Sharingan. I would've thought he would have been up by now. He must be getting old," Masaru-sensei grinned, biting into an apple.

"The Sharingan? Naruto mentioned that yesterday. What is it?" Ichirou asked.

"None of your business," Sasuke spat before Masaru-sensei had the chance to repsond.

"Sasuke..." Sakura said, surprised by his harshness. But he just turned and went back upstairs. Sakura excused herself and followed him up.

"What's with him?" Ichirou asked.

"Sasuke is..." our sensei sighed, "just touchy about this sort of thing. The Sharingan is the Uchiha clan's kekkei genkai."

"Uchiha...," Ichirou said and Masaru-sensei nodded.

"The Sharingan is one of the three ocular jutsus. It allows the holder to copy any form of jutsu perfectly and predict their opponents movement. Your always one step ahead with the sharingan."

"That sounds so awesome," a familar voice says from the stairs. We turn to find Daichi, with Naruto right behind him. "So he must be invincible, right!?"

"No," Masaru-sensei responds hesitantly. "An opponent with the sharingan is defiantely difficult to defeat, but not impossible."

"Can it do anything else?" Daichi asks excitingly.

Our sensei nods, "But you don't need to know."

"You said it was the Uchiha Clan's kekkei genkai," Ichirou said and when our sensei nods, he adds, "Then why does Kakashi-sensei have the sharingan? He isn't an Uchiha, right?"

"It...was a gift."

"Guys!" Sakura came running down the stairs and Masaru-sensei let out a sigh of relief for her interuption. "Come on, Kakashi-sensei's waking up!"

When we entered the room, Kakashi-sensei was still laying in bed, but sure enough, he was awake.

"Listen sensei, your sharingan is amazing and everything, but if it puts that much strain on you, maybe it's not worth it." Sakure says as she kneels down beside him.

"Sorry," is all he says. He finally looks up and see Masaru-sensei, Ichirou, Daichi, and I. "Masaru, what are you doing here?"

Our sensei grins and walks up to Kakashi-sensei. "Some one had to come and save you."

"I can handle this myself. I'm not that old, you know?"

"Ya, I know."

"You wored yourself out for no reason. We found out last night that guy with the big sword is still alive!" Tazuna yelled, suddenly showing up in the doorway.

"Zabuza..." Kakashi-sensei sighed.

"So you already assumed it too?" Masaru-sensei asked.

"As soon as that tracker ninja took him away, I grew suspicous," he nods.

"No doubt he be back to finish us off when he recovers," Masaru said.

Kakashi sat up, "We probably have around a week. We need to prepare."

"Sensei, how can we prepare if you can barely move?" Sakura asks.

Masaru-sensei smirks and Kakashi-sensei laughs. We all look at them confused.

"I can still train you."

"Hold on!" Sakura yells, "A little last-minutes training won't make us strong enough to fight Zabuza!"

I can't help but agree. What kind of training can be that successful in such a short amount of time?

"You could barely defeat him! Even with your sharingan! We have to be reasonable about this!" Sakura continues to rant.

"Sakura, why was I able to stop Zabuza?" Kakashi-sensei asks her, but didn't wait for an answer, "Because you all helped me. You've grown. Naruto! You've grown the most."

I smile and look at him. Has he really? To me he looks like the same little knuckle head I've known for 6 years. But if he is improving, that's great. I feel a pang of sadness in my chest when I realize he's improving without me. We were suppose to be together. But with us on different teams, it's hard.

"So you noticed, Kakashi-sensei? Now things are gonna get better. Believe it!"

"I dont believe it! And nothing's going to be good!" A voice yells from behind. Standing in the doorway is a little boy. He must live here, I'm guessing, but I haven't seen him before. He has brown hair covered in a pale hat with two blue strips. He wears green overalls over a short sleeved yellow turtle-neck.

"Who are you!?" Naruto yells rudely. I guess he hasn't seen this kid either.

"Ah, Inari, where have you been?" Tazuna calls out, with a smile. _He hasn't looked this happy since Masaru-sensei showed up last night._

"Welcome back grandpa!" Inari says as he hugs Tazuna. We all stare. _That's who the kid is._

Tsunami marches up to her son. "Inari that was very rude! These ninja helped your grandpa and brought him here safetly!" She scolds.

"It's okay, it's okay. I'm rude to them too," Tazuna rubs Inari's head.

Inari doesn't say anything in response to that. He rakes his eyes over all of us, not saying anything.

He finally turns to his mother and says, "Mom, don't you see? These people are gonna die. Gato and his men will com eback and find them and wipe them out."

_Well that's pleasant._

"What did you say, brat!?" Naruto jumps up. "Listen up! You know what a super ninja is? Well that's me only a lot better. I'm gonna be Hokage. This Gato or Blato or whatever he's called is no match for a real hero like me!"

"There's no such thing as a hero," Inari says, his hat covering his eyes, "Your just full of stupid ideas!"

"What'd you say!?" Naruto yells and makes a move, but Sakura holds him back.

"If you wanna stay alive you should go back where you came from."

"Listen, kid," Daichi snarls, getting ticked off as well, "Why don't you come over here and I'll show you wha- "

Masaru-sensei slaps his hand of Daichi's mouth, cutting off what he was saying and Inari walks out of the room.

"Inari, wait. Where are you going?" Tazuna asks.

"To look out over the ocean. I wanna be alone!"

When Inari disappears, I look over to find Naruto growling in frustration and Sakura still holding him back.

"Sorry about that," Tazuna says and Naruto finally twists from Sakura's grip and runs about Inari.

"Naruto!" She yells in protest.

"Don't worry. He won't hurt the kid," I say and everyone turns to me, "I hope."

_(SKIP)_

Two hours later, after we ate breakfast, all eight of us find ourselves in the middle of the woods. I guess Masaru-sensei decided to tag along with Kakashi-sensei's training. I wonder what it's going to be? A new jutsu? Hitting moving targets, blindfolded? Which, I can do, by the way.

"Alright, training starts now." Kakashi says. He sporting a wooden pair of crutches since he hasn't fully recovered yet. Masaru-sensei is standing next to him. All six of us stare up and them, waiting for the directions.

"First, we will begin with a review of chakra: A ninja's basic source of power. Understanding chakra is essential."

I frown. If our training involves chakra, it will a piece of cake. I need something challenging. I know basically everything there is to know about chakra. My clan revolves around it.

"We know that," Sasuke says.

"He's right. A long time ago we learned about, uh, catra," Naruto said and I smirked.

"Chakra?" Kakashi-sensei supplied and Naruto blanched.

"Go ahead Sakura," Kakashi-sensei handed over the reigns to her and I mentally scoffed. If anyone should be explaining this, it should be me. I mean, I haven't mastered chakra control or anything, but I know what more than Sakura.

"Alright, Naruto. I'll explain it simply so you can understand it. Chakra is the elemental life energy a ninja uses in jutsus. It's the source of all its power. Now this energy has two forms. Physical energy, which consists of all the cells in the entire body all working together and Spiritual energy, the primal source of power which is intensified through training and experience. As you see, these two types of chakra must be drawn out and work together in order to preform jutsu. Notice the interplay between physical and spiritual power. That's the key. Finally, hand signs focus and unleash the chakra."

_I knew all of that._

"Right on all points," Kakashi-sensei praises. "Iruka-sensei really did have some excellent students."

This time, I did scoff out loud and I see Sasuke smirk out of the corner of my eye.

"What's the big deal with all these comlicated explanations? The whol epoint is to learn the jutsu, isn't it?"

"Naruto's right for once," Sasuke agrees, "We're already using chakra energy in our jutsu."

"No. You have not mastered this power, you've barely scratched the surface of it," Kakashi sensei tells us.

"What do you mean!?" Naruto complains.

"Ya! This isn't training if you just tells us stuff. Let's actually do something!" Daichi complains.

"Calm down and listen. It's just like Sakura said. You have to draw on spiritual and physical energys and then combine them within yourself."

_I know._

"But," Kakashi continues, "how do you do that."

I feel like I'm back at home. I've been taught about chakra every since I could talk. This stuff is the basics.

"Each jutsu requires different types of chakra in different proportions. You must select and combine them in exactly the right way. Up to now, you've just guessed at the proportions, hoping they'd come out right. Even if you produce a lot of chakra, unless you can balance and control it, it's all worthless. The jutsu won't work at all or it will just be a joke. You waste so much energy that way. Then you're out of chakra and you can't fight at all. You're just a target."

"Uh, so then how do we change that?" Naruto asks, scratching his head.

"Train so hard so that controlling your chakra becomes second nature," Kakashi answers. "To achieve this goal, you must be ready to put your life on the line."

We all stare at him, waiting for his next words. He's making this sound so dramatic.

"What do we have to do?" Sakura asked.

"Climb a tree," he laughed and my shoulders slumped when I figured out what he meant.

_**(Flashback)**_

_ Father! It's past dinner and mother said we were having dangos," my eight year-old self whined._

_ "Okay, okay, one more thing and then we can go have dangos," my father laughed. "You will be climbing a tree."_

_ "Climbing a tree?" I ask, confused, "What does that have to do with chakra control? I learned how to climb a tree when I was four!"_

_ "Not with your hands, but your feet," and then, to my amazement, my father walked up the tree trunk. _Walked.

_"How did you do that!?" I cry and my father laughs again._

_ "It's easy. You concertrate the chakra into your feet and just walk." He demonstrated it to me again. "You try."_

_ I walk up to the base of the tree and take a deep breathe, sending my chakra to my feet. I took one step, then another. I opened my eyes when I felt my hair start to fall back off my face._

_ "Father! Look! I'm doing it! I'm walking up a tr-" I was cut short when my head hit a tree root on the ground. "Ouch!" I grumbled, rubbing my new bruise._

_ "Try again!" My father encouraged and I did what I was told._

_ I fell off three hundred and sixty three times before I reached the top. I never got dangos that night._

_**(End of Flashback)**_

__"Climb a tree!" All five of them asked, having the same reaction I did when I first heard it.

"With your feet..." I mumbled.

"What was that?" Kakashi-sensei turned to me. I didn't think I said it that loud.

"We're climbing the tree with our feet." I reply.

"B-but that's not even possible!" Naruto yelled.

Kakashi didn't turn towards Naruto, he was still faced toward me. Masaru-sensei stepped up and placed a hand on my shoulder. "Takara is a Mizushima," he tells Kakashi and he nods, like that explains everything.

"Of course, how could I forget."

"What does that have to due with anything?" Sakura asks.

"The Mizushima clan's kekkei genkai and jutsus revolve solely around chakra. Members of the clan start practicing chakra control at a very yound age," he explains. He turns back to me and gestures to a tree, "would you like to demonstrate?"

I fight off a smirk. Finally my time to shine. I walk to face the tree and take a deep breathe. I begin to feel my chakra gather in my soles of my feet and then I begin to walk.

I stop when I reach the top of the tree and look down to find three of them staring at me with their mouths open. Ichirou is just giving me a shocked expression, while, of course, the Uchiha is glaring at me.

I begin to make my way down when I sense a change in the air to my right. I take one of my own kunai from my pouch and deflect the three sent straight at me, not once breaking my concentration.

"Nice trye, Masaru-sensei. My father did this to me all the time when we train. I expected it."

Our sensei grins at me from the ground as I jump off the trunk and land at his feet.

Kakashi turns to the gaping genin, "Your turn."

Sasuke scoffs, "If Takara can do it, how hard can it be."

I ground my teeth together and take a step forward. "What was that, Uchiha?"  
>"You heard me, Mizushima," he growled back. I make a move towards him, but Masaru-sensei pulls me back.<p>

"Since you have this pretty much covered, you and I are doing something else," he says as he takes me away from the others. I shoot another glare over my shoulders at Sasuke and he sends me one to match.

"Yeesh, what's up with you two?" Our sensei asked as we head out of the forest.

"Nothing," I growl.

"I though you got along with everyone?"

"I do, the exception being Sasuke Uchiha."

"Did he-"

"Sensei, what are we doing?" I ask

"Oh, right. While the others are learning chakra control, you and I are going to be doing our own kind of training." He leads me into an opening by the sea.

"Like what?"

"I'm not exactly familar with the Mizushima clan, but I've heard the most of them are adept to water style. Am I right?"

I nod.

"Lucky for you, I am also water style."

"So...are you going to teach me a new jutsu!?" I ask excitedly. When I said we practiced chakra control a lot, I wasn't exaggerating. My father just agreed to teach my something other than chakra control when I graduated the academy. And now that I'm given the chance to learn a new water jutsu, I'm estatic.  
>He nods, "now stands to the side and watch. Once you grasp the concept of this jutsu, it should be fairly simple. You already excel in chakra control, so I think you will be able to get it quickly."<p>

I step back and Masaru-sensei spreads his legs into a firm stance and preforms three hand signs. Rat - Dog - Ox. "Water Style: Water Whip Jutsu!"

His hand lashes out and I see the line of water that it's directly. The water whip cuts through a tree, causing it to slide of the trunk and crash to the ground with a slam.

I just stare for awhile. Then a huge smile comes over my face. "That was awesome."

Masaru-sensei grins and stares at the sliced tree, looking pleased with his work.

"You won't be using this jutsu like I just used it. You excel in taijutsu, yes?" I nod. "This jutsu is quick and effective. With this you'll be able to bring opponents close to you so you can deliver more threatening blows. Do you understand?"

I nod. "So this jutsu itself, is the attack, it's just used to bring the enemy in closer range?"

"Correct. The enemy will not be expecting it and with your speed and strength, the fight will be over before the enemy even knew what hit them."

I grin, imagining that play out in my head, "Lets get started."

Masaru-sensei explained everything to me, step-by-step. I tried over and over and over again, but I just couldn't get it.

I didn't realize how long I've been training until Masaru-sensei stopped me and said we should probably head back for dinner.

"It can't be dinner time yet, can it?" But sure enough, the sun was setting. "Urgh! No! I was so close to getting it this time!"

He placed a hand on my shoulder to comfort me. "For what I've seen, you haven't learned many Water Style Jutsus before so it's completely normal to be struggling. But I am impressed with how far you've gotten."

I look up at him. "Really?"

He smiles and nods, "We can pick up where we left off tomorrow."

"Ya, know, you act really old for your acge, sensei?"

"Really now? Would you believe me if I told you I'm so mature because Kakashi is immature?" He asks as he ruffles my hair and we start to walk back.

"No," I laugh, "He's always so serious."

When we arrived at Tazuna's house, we were a little late for dinner. Everyone was already at the table, chowing down. I walked right in when Naruto and Sasuke both held up their bowl and yelled, "I want some more!" They both quickly turned on each other and glared so fiercely that up could see sparks. Then, both of their eyes widened and they leaned over the table to barf in back up.

"Gross," I muttered.

Masaru-sensei cleared his throat and finally everyone turned towards us. Everyone stared at me and Naruto was the one that spoke up first.

"Takara, what happened to you?" He asked.

It wasn't until then that I looked at myself. I was drenched completely from head to toe thanks to the jutsu failing so much and was covered in dirt as well. Which now had turned to mud. My hair was stiff and in knots, not to mention the small branch sticking out of it. I also kept itching my skin.

Thank goodness I brought extra clothes.

"Uh, training..." I answered lamely, "Sorry for getting so dirty. I'll go straight upstairs and clean off. I'll be back!" I yelled as I headed up the stairs.

When I entered the bathroom, I cringed at my reflection. _I look like I've been living the wilderness for months._

After pratically scrubbing every inch of my body with soap and water, I get out of the bath and go into the room Sakura and I share to get dressed. Since she isn't in there, I guess they're still having dinner or something. I don't think I took that long cleaning up.

I know I said that I would be right down, but I somehow convinced myself to sit down for a bit. Next thing I know, I was asleep.

_Kakashi POV_

After we helped Tsunami clean up the table, Masura and I urged our teams upstairs.

"Come on. It's time to settle down for the night, kids," Masura said.

I laughed, "I don't think your qualified to call them kids, Masaru."

"I think _you're_ qaulified to call them grandchildren," he joked as we finally reached the top of the stairs.

My shoulders slumped, "I'm not that old."

Naruto turned around, "Exactly how old _are you,_ Kakashi-sensei?"

"That's none of your business."

"Hey, where's Takara? She came up here an hour ago to clean up." Daichi asked.

"Ya, she said she was going to be right down!" Naruto added.

Masaru smile, "I have a pretty good idea where she is." he walked over to the room her and Sakura had been staying in and sure enough, there she was asleep.

"She fell asleep..."Ichirou stated.

"That training must've wiped her out, Masaru. What did you teach her?" I asked.

"Just a basic Water Style Jutsu," he shurgged.

Naruto to look at me, "What? Why don't you teach us real jutsu sensei?"

"Quiet. Go to bed."

Naruto looked like he was going to keep going, but Sasuke dragged him off in the room next door. Ichirou and Daichi followed them and Sakura joined Takara after biding us goodnight.

"You know her father," I said as we headed back to the room we both slept in. It wasn't a question.

"Yes. I know Takara's father," Masaru answered, as calm as ever.

"You know who he is?"

"Yes."

"And you know he wouldn't want you teaching-"

He turned on me, causing me to stop. "Yes. But she is my student. It is her choice to make, not her fathers." He looks me in the eye, "You're not scared or anything?" he joke.

"Of course not, Masaru. I just want to make sure you understand what you're dealing with."

"I do understand. They asked me to take this team. I didn't have to, you know?"

"Yes, I know it was your choice. Just...," I suddenly see a flash over Masaru's shoulders. I turned and stared, causing Masaru to turn his head as well.

"What? Did you see something?" he asked.

I shook my head and didn't answer, "Just keep an eye out."

I turn around and head back to my room, leaving Masaru. It wasn't an illusion. I definately saw something, no someone. Someone must have overheard our conversation. But who. I remember seeing something dark, but not quite black. There was also a flash of red and white. The Uchiha crest.

**Dun Dun DUUUUNNN. Okay yes, Sasuke was the eavesdropper. He's probably wondering what the heck they're talking about! Anyways, ya! Two chapters up in one day. And hopefully, I'll get at least two more this week. I'm feeling motivated.**


	9. Chapter Seven

**Chapter Seven**

_Takara POV_

Time in the Land of Waves passed by quickly. I was trying to learn the Water Whip jutsu with Masaru-sensei, while Naruto and the other worked on Chakra control with Kakashi-sensei. Most days, it was the same routine. Woke up, ate breakfast, worked on regular endurance, taijutsu, and chakra control until lunch, ate lunch, practice the Water Whip jutsu until dinner, and then sleep again. My taijutsu and speed was really improving. Along with my strength.

Back when I was in Konaha, I never practiced this much. We never trained as hard as Masaru-sensei had me train at the academy. And my father usually didn't have that much time to train me aorund his meetings and such. He would find time every now and then, but it was nothing like this.

Plus, Masaru-sensei pushes me hard, harder than anyone else has. It definately gets frusterating, but it's what I asked for. If I want to become the best ninja ever, I need to train hard all the time.

I finally feel like a Mizushima now. My clan is known for it's taijutsu and quick, harsh attacks. I still have a way to go, but I'm definately getting there. Sometimes, Masaru-sensei and I spar. I lose everytime, but I still manage to land some hard blows on him, much to his surprise.

"You're too quick and sneaky for your own good," he told me once after I elbowed him rather sharply in the ribs, but he had a smile on his face.

Masaru-sensei also sent a letter back to the Third Hokage telling him of ours and Kakashi-sensei's team's situation. We got a letter back, but sensei didn't tell me anything it said besides the fact that my parents were very upset with me and worried.

Whenever I left for the 'mission', I kind of just told them that I had a training exercise. I didn't tell them it was a 'mission'. They would overreact. Plus, our 'mission' was suppose to take less than a day. It would take no convincing for them to believe I was training all day. But since we've resided in the Land of Waves temporarily, they noticed I was gone and got rather upset. But since I'm on a mission, they can't make me come back. But I sure am expecting an earfull when I get home. I'm lucky if they'll ever let me go on another mission ever again. But even if they did, I would just sneak out again.

When I woke up on the sixth day of being in the Land of Waves, I felt amazing. I missed dinner again because of training. Everyone was used to it, but I still got scolded by Tsunami for not eating. Masaru-sensei usually just jokes with me about it.

"Just because you didn't eat dinner last night, doesn't mean I expect any less from you today," he would say.

And I would grin and say, "Of course not, sensei. That way you have no excuse when I beat you."

"Oh, so you think you're going to beat me today?"

"I know I am. I've got some tricks up my sleeve, sensei."

Kakashi-sensei chuckled, "I would love to see that match, Masaru."

Masaru just grinned and ruffled my hair. "Go wake up the rest of them. Breakfast is almost ready.

When I went back to my room, Sakura had just dragged herself out of bed and trudged to the bathroom. I slide open the door that connected the boy's bedroom with ours. Sasuke was already up and turned to me when he heard the door open. When he saw it was me, his face twisted in annoyance and he turned away.

_Okay, I guess he's still mad. Come on Uchiha, it's almost been a week._

Ichirou turned around in his bed when he heard the door open and sat up and slowly began to get ready. I looked over to Daichi's bed to find him fast asleep. I grinned and nudged him in the side.

"Get up," I told him.

"Mmmhhhmmm," he mumbled and turned over so his back was facing me.

I nudged him harder, "Come on, Daichi. Breakfast is ready."

"Go away," he moaned and he blindly swatted at me.

I sighed and settled for tugging his blanket off of him and yanking the pillow out form under his head.

"Ugh!" he groaned and curled into a bar, trying to reserve his warmth. After a minute or two, he finally got up to get ready and sent me a glare.

He definately wasn't a morning person. But what can I say? I'm not one either. I'm just super excited this morning because of that new jutsu Masaru-sensei is teaching me.

_I'm gonna get it today. I just know it._

I looked over the room and when I noticed a bed that hadn't been used at all, I realize we were missing someone.

"Where's Naruto?"

Ichirou turned to look at the untouched bed in confusion. "I don't know? He came back upstairs with us last night."

"The dobe probably snuck out and got himself killed," Sasuke supplied not so helpfully.

I narrowed my eyes at him for saying such a thing, but ignored his comment.

_That Uchiha makes it really hard for people _not _to be angry with him._

We all headed downstairs when everyone was ready. The little boy that we met after Kakashi-sensei woke up was her now. Inari. That was his name.

The breakfast was all set out on the table and I quickly thanked Tsunami and Tazuna before sitting down between Sasuke and Inari.

Not long after, Tazuna noticed the absence of one of our members too. "Naruto's not here? Looks like he was out all night again."

"He's gone completely crazy. He's out climbing trees in the dark," Sakura said. _So that's what he's doing. _"He could be dead by now. You know, form using up too much of his chakra."

"He's not dead," I said, narrowing my eyes at Sakura like I did with Sasuke when he suggested something similar.

"Well I certainly hope he's okay. A child spending the night in the woods alone!" Tsunami exclaims, like she can't believe it.

"There's nothing to worry about. Naruto's a goofy kid, but he's also a full-fledged ninja. He can handle himself," Kakashi-sensei assures her and I sigh.

_Finally, someone who doesn't think Naruto's an idiot who got himself killed._

"Sakura's right. Naruto's such a loser. He's probablt lying out there dead somewhere," Sasuke said.

I glare at him. "Naruto is not dead. I bet you he's out there training. And what are you doing Uchiha? Sitting in here, not training. He's probably already reached the top of the tree and proved that the weakest member isn't him, but you."

Sasuke growls and me and looks like he's going to say something, but Sakura cuts in before he had the chance.

"Don't you say that about Sasuke! He's the strongest one on our team! Naruto's the weakest!"

I put my hands on the table and leaned over it. I was _really _getting tired of people always trash-talking Naruto._ Just imagine how he must feel,_ I voice in my head says.

"Oh ya? Well Naruto works his butt off. It won't take long for him to surpass everyone in Konoha! And at least Naruto, doesn't talk bad about his teammates!"

Sakura's face goes red and she open her mouth again, but this time, Kakahsi-sensei intervenes. "That's enough you three."

I lean back in my seat and huff, crossing my arms over my chest. _God, the nerve of them._

Suddenly, Sasuke stands up and walks towards the door.

"Sasuke?" his #1 fangirl says.

"I'm going for a walk," he replies.

"Uh, but we just started eating," she informs him, but when we all look at his plate, we find it empty. He ate his food already.

"That was fast."

Ichirou and Daichi nodded in agreement and I got up from my chair.

"Where are _you_ going?" Sakura asks accusingly.

"I'm going to find Naruto. Not everyone is obsessed with Sasuke, you know?"

Sakura's cheeks turn pink, "T-that's not what I- Ugh! Nevermind!"

I turned to Masaru-sensei, who was watching the whole conversation with amusement. "Don't worry, I'll be back in time for training."

When I leave the house, I see Sasuke a hundred feet or so in front of me. He turns around with his hands in his pockets when he hears the door slam. Even though he's far away, I can still see him scoff and roll his eyes when he sees that it's me.

I grit my teeth and jog to catch up with him. "Hey, Uchiha! You going to find Naruto?"

"How did you know?" He doesn't turn to me.

"It was obvious. But I wasn't about to let you go look for Naruto alone. You'd probably strangle him when you found out he's better." I smirked and looked over at him to see his reaction.

He clenches his jaw and his hands go into fists. "He's not stronger than me."

I shrug, "You never know. I mean, he's been out there all night. That's like, what? Nine, ten hours? That's almost..." I start to fade away as Sasuke speeds up and walks away.

"Hey!" I run to catch up. "Why'd you do that?"

"Cause you're annoying."

_Psshh, typical Sasuke answer._

We don't talk while we walk to the forest. I decide to break the awkward silence after about 10 minutes or so.

"Um, I'm sorry about how I acted the second night we were here. You know, in the hallway? I shouldn't of said that-"

"Shut up."

I look over at him and narrow my eyes, "I was trying to apologize, you jerk. You can't just-."

His hand covers my mouth."Shut up." He nods his head up ahead of us and I see what he's talking about.

Naruto is in the clearing, but he's not alone. A women, or is it a man is talking to him. _Man, why can't I tell my genders apart anymore?_

I push Sasuke's hand off of my mouth and run towards Naruto, ignoring Sasuke's annoyed, "Hey!"

"Naruto!" I exclaim when I enter the clearing. "You missed breakfast, you goof!"

He grins when he sees me and jumps up, "Takara!"

The man/women- women, it has to be a women - stands up and brushes off her dress, apron thing.

"I guess it's time for me to go. Nice to meet you Naruto," she says and begins to walk away.

"Ya! Nice to meet you too!"

"Oh, and by the way, I'm a boy."

Simultaneously, both of our jaws drop. _Dangit! What's wrong with my gender guessing!?_

"Wow, I've seen a lot of weird things in my life, but this one takes the cake," Naruto says and I nod in agreement.

Sasuke finally shows up and he walks straight up to Naruto and hits him on the head.

"Ow! Hey! What did you do that for?"

"Hey twerp, did you just forget about breakfast?" Sasuke asked, crossing his arms. Then he adds his famous, "You're just a loser."

Naruto laughs, unfased by Sasuke's insult towards him. Sasuke grits his teeth, annoyed and I laugh at the two boys. They really are polar opposites. The only thing they have in common is they want to become great ninjas.

All three of us do.

_(SKIP)_

Naruto and Sasuke stayed in the clearing to resume their chakra control training, but I headed back to the place where Masaru-sensei and I train. Hopefully, he's there by now.

As I thought, sensei was leaning against a tree reading a book.

"Is that book like Kakashi-sensei reads? Naruto says Kakashi-sensei is a pervert because of the stuff he reads."

Masaru-sensei closes his book, "Why do you call Kakashi, Kakashi-sensei? He's not your sensei."

I smile, "My father told me to treat all ninja with respect. Therefore, your all senseis."

"But I'm your favorite right?" He jokes and I laugh.

"Yes. Of course. But that doesn't mean that I'm going to take it easy on you when we spar."

"Oh," he raises his eyebrows, "So you were serious about this? You plan on beating me?"

I stretch my arms and legs to get loose, "Yes. I do. Now come on. Quit stalling."

I stand in a fighting stance and wait for Masaru-sensei to do the same. "Don't take it easy on me, sensei. I'm serious."

"I wouldn't dream of it," he smirks.

We stand about twenty feet away from one another on the balls of our feet, analyzing one another. Usually, I'm not one to make the first move, but the anticipation is too much.

I dash towards my sensei and throw a punch at him. He blocks it, as expected, but chooses the wrong block. He grabs my fist instead of deflecting it. I don't hesitate. I change my momentum and use his stable grip on my hand as leverage. I change my body position so I'm flipping myself over his head. As soon as my feet touch the ground, I swing my left leg up in a high kick and throw shuriken at his legs. If he ducks, surely my shuriken will hit him, disabling him. But if he decided to dodge the shuriken, my kick will cause a nasty bruise to appear on his face.

But he does nothing. My kick and the shuriken hit and Masaru-sensei disappears in a poof of smoke. I mentally curse myself and study my surrounding carefully. It was a clone! I took my eyes off of him for a second when I flipped over his head and he produced a clone. How could I not notice the different chakra level. It had to have been a solid clone. I've lost the advantage. He could be anywhere. I have to stay on my toes.

I take a deep breathe and try to focus on his chakra, but can't detect it. Dangit! I need to turn to defense. I have to wait for his to show himself first. Finally, he sends some kunai out from the trees. I dodge easily, but that's when I feel a presence behind me. _There._ I flip away, avoiding his leg as he tries to sweep my feet out from under me.

So that's it. He's using his clones to create counter attacks and take my hits while the real him is trying to hit me close up. I furrow my brows in confusion. His plan is all wrong. He knows I do better at close combat, but yet, that's where he's trying to hit me.

"I said no taking it easy, sensei."

"I'm not," he denies.

"But you are!" I yell, becoming frusterated. "How am I suppose to become better when you wouldn't challenge me!?"

He sighs and his shoulders slump. I guess this spar is over. "Takara, you've worked very hard these past few days. But remember, you just became a genin a little over a week ago. You are progressing far greater than my expectations. But relax, you have plenty of time to improve. You don't have to do it all now."

I huff and cross my arms, "So you're saying I'm still not strong enough."

He places a hand on my head, but doesn't mess up my hair, "You are plently strong for a new genin. One of the strongest I've ever had."

"Well, that would make sense considering you're only, like, twenty."

He laughs and now he rufffles my hair, "Tell me, do you think you're the strongest you can be?"

I look up at him. "What do you mean?"

"Do you think you're the strongest you can be at this point? Do you think there's no room for improvement?"

"Well, there will always be room for improvement," I say, causing Masaru-sensei to laugh.

"The perfect answer. But you're right."

"So why won't you take this as seriously as I am?"

"I just told you. Come to me when you are the strongest you can be. Come to me when you've trained and learned everything there is to know about being a ninja."

I stare at him, not comprehending. "But that makes no sense! You can always learn more!"

He just grins and ruffles my hair again before stepping back. "Go and give me ten down and backs along the shore. We'll finish up with a few more basic training exercises, then we'll go eat lunch," he says and I groan, really wanting to spar.

But nevertheless, I take off closer to the shore. The sand here is more packed, but it's still harder to run on. I run about a three miles up the beach and then back. I have to do that ten times.

I wonder if Naruto has gotten chakra control yet?

_(SKIP)_

It was dinnertime and the two idiots haven't came back yet. I'll admit, it's kind of making me itch and squirm at the fact that they're still out there training and that I'm in here.

I keep my eye out for openings to leave, but Masaru-sensei keeps giving me a look telling me not to make a move. Earlier today, after lunch, I broke sprained my wrist during training. I told him it doesn't hurt at all, which is kind of a lie, cause it hurts a little bit. I told him just because it aches, doesn't mean I can't train. But Masaru-sensei won't listen to any of it. He said that he had been pushing me a lot and that maybe this is a sign to take a break for a few days. Whcih I just scoffed and rolled my eyes at. Not to mention he has it hands full with Daichi's complaining.

"Why are you spending so much time with Takara? You're out sensei too! When are you going to tech me a new jutsu!?" He complained at the dinner table. Ichirou wacked him in the back of the head to get him to shut up. Even though Ichirou wasn't complaining, I could tell he was irritated as well that Masaru-sensei was spending a lot of time training me.

"Well first you have to master chakra control. After that, I would be glad to teach you some things, now that Takara is out for awhile. You too Ichirou," he added when he saw the other boy's brooding look.

"But we have mastered it! We made it to the top of the tree today. Both of us! Didn't we, Kakashi-sensei!?"

Kakashi-sensei looked over at Daichi, then at Masaru-sensei and nodded. "They both made it to the top," he confirmed.

"Well then I guess we can start our training tomorrow you two," Our senesi said.

Daichi grinned and nodded and Ichirou's mouth lifted in a small smirk. I guess they were satisfied with that.

Sakura sighed at looked at the door again. "They're both late. I wouldn't have expected that from Sasuke."

An on que, the door opened. We all turned to see a filthly Naruto and Sasuke walk through. Naruto had his arm over Sasuke's shoulders and Sasuke seemed to be supporting him.

The good tired himself out. I smirked.

"What've you been up to? You look like something the cat dragged in," Tazuna said.

Naruto lifted his head and grinned. "We both made it. We climbed all the way to the top."

"Good," their sensei said, "now we move on. Starting tomorrow, you're both bodyguards for Tazuna."

"All right!" Naruto laughed and jumped up, causing him to lose his balance and fall, bringing Sasuke with him.

"You are such a loser!" was Sasuke's repsonse, causing all of us to laugh.

"Sensei, if everyone is going to be off doing something tomorrow, what am I suppose to do?" I ask. Daichi and Ichirou are training with Masaru-sensei and Sasuke, Sakura, Naruto, and Kakashi-sensei will be gaurding Tazuna.

"You are going to stay here."

It took me a moment to process. I jumped up, "What! You mean everyone else will be out doing stuff, and I have to stay here for the whole day!?"

"Yes."

I slumped back down in my chair and sighed. Tomorrow is going to feel like an eternity.

_(SKIP)_

After everyone ate their dinner, Tazuna turned to thank all of us. "In a few more days, the bridge will be finished. I have you to thank for that."

"You've all done great, but you've still got to be careful," his daughter said.

"I've been meaning to ask you this, but I haven't had the chance until now. Why did you stay and protect me even after you'd found out I lied to bring you here?" Tazuna asked Kakashi-sensei.

"Those who stray from the path of justic have no courage, but under the wing of a strong leader, cowardice cannot survive," was Kakashi-sensei's repsonse.

I raised my eyebrows and looked at Daichi who looked equally confused.

"Huh?" Tsunami said.

"That was a quote from the first Hokage," Kakashi-explained.

"But...why?" A small voice said.

I looked over and saw Inari crying. Naruto finally arose from his sleepy state and stared at the small boy.

"What'd you say?" He asked.

Inari slammed his hands on the table and stood up from his chair. "All this stupid training is just a waste of time! Gato's got a whole army! They'll beat you down and they'll destroy you! These cool things you all say, they don't mean anything! No matter what you do, the strong always win and the weak always lose!"

We all stare at him in shock. How can a boy at his age have no hope at all?  
>"Just speak for yourself! It won't be like that for me, you got that!?" Naruto said.<p>

"Why don't you be quiet!? Just looking at you makes me sick! You don't know anything about this country! You're just butting in! Always laughing and playing around! You don't know what it's like to suffer and be treated like dirt!" Inari yelled back.

My fist clenched and I start to stand, "Now listen here, you bratty- ," but Masaru-sensei placed a hand on my shoulder, stopping me. I turned around and he shook his head and pushed me back down in my seat.

Inari doesn't know the pain Naruto went through everyday. I've been Naruto's best friend since I was six and I still don't know the amount of pain he went through. I can't match it. He was alone for his whole life. He has no idea who his parents are and for some reason, everyone in the village treats him like trash. I've witnessed it first hand.

"Listen to yourself whining and complaining like some kind of sorry little victim! You can whimper all day for all I care! You're nothing but a coward!" Naruto responded.

Inari's eyes widened and Sakura immediately scolded Naruto. "Naruto! You went too far!"

Naruto grumbled, ignoring her, and stood up. He put his hands in his pocket and walked out of the room.

"Naruto?" Sakura said, now confused.

I immediately got up and followed Naruto, dodging Masaru-sensei's outstretched hand.

"Naruto!" I yelled, running down the hallway and up the stairs. He turned around, and instead of brightening up like hsi usually does when he sees me, his face remains the same. He stops halfway up the stairs though and turns around, facing me.

"Are you okay?"

He shrugs, "Ya. That kid is just getting on my nerves. He has no idea what it's like for other people!"

My brain immediately flashes to that time in the hallway when Sasuke and I were arguing. _I did exactly to Sasuke was Inari just did to Naruto._

I gulped. "Ya," I say lamely.

"How can he say that stuff!? That we're going to die and have no chance against Gato!? I'll show him what a real ninja is made of!"

I give him a small smile, "I'm sure you will." I turn around to look back down the stairs and look to Naruto. "Maybe we should move. I think they can hear everything we're saying."

Naruto and I make our way to our rooms. We slide the door open, so they're connnected again.

"He's just a little boy, but he's gone through so much," I say, laying down on the floor.

"Ya," Naruto said as he laid down next to me, but his head was by my feet.

"He reminds me of you," I smile, remember the younger Naruto.

"No way!" The older Naruto scoffs.

"Ya. Well, maybe. You weren't that negative. You were always so positive. But it's the..." _It's the pain The pain you two share is what makes you two so similar._

"Ya, I know..." Naruto says, even though I didn't finish my sentence. "I think that's why I can't stay made at him."

"You just need to share some Naruto-logic with him."

Naruto laughs, "Naruto-logic?"

I smile and look at the blank ceiling. "Ya, you know, that motivation stuff that makes people believe in you."

"I have no idea what you're talking about," he says.

"Well I do and that's why I know you're going to become Hokage."

"Because of my Naruto-logic?"

"Yes. And because you work harder than anyone else I know."

When he doesn't say anything right away, I look up. "Naruto?"

"Thank you."

I sit up and stare at him, confused. "For what?"

He takes his eyes off of the ceiling and looks at me. "For being my friend when no one else would."

I smile, "Of course. After getting to know the real you, who wouldn't want to be your friend?" I held out my fist and we fist bumped.

"No one wanted to be my friend at all when I was young. Everyone hated me. The adults always gave me those looks, glares of hate. They told there kids to stay away and I never knew why." Naruto moves his hand to rest on his stomach.

"They're just stupid, irrelevant. You're Naruto Uzumaki and you're going to become the next Hokage," I lay back down, "Once that happens, everyone will start respecting you."

"Takara...?"

I angle my head on the ground, so I can see his face. He's staring at me, his bright cerulean eyes staring straight into my violet ones.

"Ya?"

"I know I've asked this before, but, we're always going to be best friends right?"

"Of course, you goof."

"And we're not going to grow apart now that we're one different teams?"

I sit up again, "Naruto, I'm never going to leave you," I grin, "You're me best friend."

He smiles, "And you promise that you'll never change your mind, even if..." he places his other hand on his stomach, "...even if I'm different."

I laugh, "I'm pretty sure everyone's established that you're different Naruto. You're always so- "

"No," he interupted me, "Not like a good different, it's like a bad different..."

I scoot closer to him, confused. "What are you talking about? It can't be that bad right?"

"I don't know."

"You're not dying or have an evil half or something?" I elt out a forced laugh.

Naruto's head snaps to face me and a smile is one his face, "What? No way."

I grin, "Good. Then, it doesn't matter. We're Naruto Uzumaki and Takara Mizushima and we're indestructable!"

His grin widens and he closes his eyes. "Ya?"

"Of course! We can get through this together, whatever it is." I grab his hand and squeeze.

He seems to like that answer because he squeezes my hand back. "Ya, ya you're right..." His voices fades and he yawns.

"Naruto?" I raise at eyebrow at him, "Naruto, are you-"

A snore cuts off my question and I laugh. Yep, he definately exhausted himself when he was training.

I somehow get him over to his bed with a little of his help. He was kind of half-conscious. Then I slide the door closed between the two rooms and laid down in my own bed, wondering what Naruto could have been talking about and why he hasn't told me about it yet.

"_Not like a good different, it's like a bad different..."_

**Chapter Seven is complete! The goal for this week was a complete failure. I said one or two chapters, but I was hoping to get at least three. But it turned out, I didn't have this week off at all. I thought I did, but I didn't. So Monday was today is the first days I had off. And then tomorrow, basketball starts, so the updating will probably even out to one or one and a half chapters a week or something like that.**

**Anyways, yay! The Seventh Chapter is done! Next chapter we'll finally get to the battle with Zabuza! Read and Review!**


	10. Chapter Eight

**Chapter Eight**

_Takara's POV_

"Okay, I leave Naruto in your hands. He's psuhed his body to the limit, overdoing it, as usual. So he might not be able to move today at all," I overhear Kakashi-sensei say from the open upstairs window.

"What about you? You're still recovering youself," Tsunami says.

"Why? Do I look wobblely?" He laughs, "I'll be okay."

"Come on," Tazuna grumbles, "Let's go."

I growl to myself and slam the window shut. Masaru-sensei, Ichirou, and Daichi left about an hour ago. Now Kakashi-sensei, Sakura, and Sasuke are leaving. They left Naruto behind for the same reason Masaru-sensei left me behind: because we've exerted ourselves _too much _during training. Ninjas do that all the time! That's what makes them strong.

If there is one thing I hate, it's being cooped up all day. Everyone is gone besides Tsunami, Inari, a snoring Naruto, and me.

I sighed and walked downstairs. If there's one thing I agree with Kakashi-sensei over, it's that Naruto needs his rest.

I find Tsunami in the kitchen making breakfast. _It seems like that's all she does because whenever I see her, she's cooking. _

She turns when she hears me enter and smiles brightly. "Oh, Takara, good morning. I'm afraid I just started breakfast. It won't be done for awhile."

I wave her off. "Don't worry about it. I was just coming down here because I couldn't stand moping around in the bedrooms anymore. I think I'll just grab Naruto when he wakes up and we'll go into town to get something since we're not allowed to 'strain ourselves,'" I say, quoting Masaru-sensei. I roll my eyes. How old to they think we are? Four?

Tsunami gives me a thankful look and goes back to cooking.

"Actually," I begin to walk towards her, "I can help you with making breakfast since I have nothing else to do?"

"That would be great. Thank you," she says.

I laugh and stop before the counter. "No problem. But I have to admit, I don't cook much at home so you might have to tell me what to do."

She laughs, "Sure. For now, just cut this." She hands me something that looks very similar to a loaf of bread and I begin to cut it.

With both of us working together, we get breakfast done in about fifteen minutes.

"Here," she hands my a plate with a small portion of food. I open my mouth to remind her that Naruto and I were going to go into town, but she waved me off. "It's the least I can do for you helping me out. Here," She hands me another plate with food. "You can take this up to Naruto. I'm sure he must be starving."

I laugh and thank her as she begins to start the dishes. I turn and am about to start up the stairs, but Naruto appears at the top, looking dazed and confused as to where everyone was. He was still in his pajamas.

"Takara!" He shouts when he sees me. He races down the stairs. "Where is everybody!? They left me!"

I set the plates down on the table and cross my arms. "Ya, well it wasn't an accident. They thought you've 'exerted yourself too much', so you and I are taking a break today."

He stares at me like I just told him cats live underwater. "Take a break? A _break_!? Who do they think we are!? Ninjas don't take breaks!"

I throw my arms up. "That's what I said! Masaru-sensei, Ichirou, and Daichi left for training about an hour and a half ago. Kakashi-sensei, Sakura, and Sasuke left to accompany Tazuna to the bridge about thirty minutes ago."

He growls and runs back upstairs. I follow, causing Tsunami to yell, "You forgot your food!"

"I knew it! They ditched me!" Naruto starts to quickly change and I turn around, giving him his privacy.

"So you're going to follwo them?" I ask as I follow Naruto back down the stairs.

"You bet! See ya!" He yells at Tsunami and we both run out the door.

"But your food!"

"Sorry!" I call back. If Naruto was going to get some action, so was I. Sue me for wanting to fight, or in this case, be on lookout.

"They could have woken me up!" Naruto growls as we face through the treetops.

"They still wouldn't have taken you with them," I tell him, dodging a branch.

"Ya, well, I would've made them-" Naruto suddenly starts on a branch.

"What?" I ask, stopping myself. "Naruto, what is it?"

"The boar," he points behind me.

I turn and sure enough, on the forest floor is a boar. But it's dead. Lots of messy cuts are all over it. I narrow my eyes, trying to get a better look. Those cuts don't look like they were made from animals. They're too big. Someone must've killed it. But why? For fun? But who would have a weapon like that?

I look back at Naruto and he nods. We dash off into the trees.

_(SKIP)_

We show up outside of Tazuna's house right as to goons are about to cut Inari's head clean off with a sword.

Naruto quickly does a substitution jutsu and I sweep Inari up, right as their swords swing in the area that Inari's head was in. Naruto sneaks up behind them and grabs an unconscious Tsunami.

"A substitution jutsu!?" The shorter one with silver hair exclaims.

"The woman? She's gone!" The taller one with the eye patch says.

I raise an eyebrow, unimpressed. So far, I can't tell who's the smartest of the bunch.

"Sorry I'm a little late," Naruto says, placing Tsunami down in front of a frightening Inari.

"Huh? Who's that!?" Mister eye patch guy turns around.

"But, you know, hero's usually show up at the last minute," Naruto grins.

Inari looks up at both of us in wonder. "Naruto, Takara, it's you."

"Who else?" Naruto replies. "Inari, you did great. When you charges, they forgot about your mom for a minutes, giving me an opening. Takara grabbed you."

Inari looks up at me and I grin at him, "Don't worry. We're gonna beat the leaving daylights out of these phonies."

"But how did you two know these Samurai guys were coming here?" Inari asks.

"It was all Naruto," I tell Inari, "In the forest, he found a boar that had been attacked. And we saw that the trees were all cut up too, like someone had been practicing with a sword of something."

Naruto nods and continues, "Ya. And the cuts lead back towards the house, so I followed them here."

Inari looks at Naruto in shock. "That was really smart."

I laugh. "Ya, who knew Naruto would put all those pieces together," I joke, causing him to pout.

"Takara...don't take away my glory," he groans.

"Blah, blah," Mister eye patch mumbles, "It's two of those puny ninja brats Tazuna hired. But I don't remember Lord Zabuza mentioning this one." He narrows his eyes at me.

"Get 'em," the shorter one says simply.

"Ya."

I grin as the charge at us, their swords drawn. _Ya, keep coming you idiots. Naruto and I excel in close range attacks._

"They're coming!" Inari cries out. Naruto and I exchange glances.

I channel chakra into my feet and dart off, showing up behind Mister eye patch. Naruto is going to take the shorty.

"Hey, what-?" Mister eye patch's eyes widen when he realizes I'm suddenly behind him. He doesn't have time to react though, because my foot's already slamming into his jaw, causing him to stumble back.

I can't help the cocky smirk on my face when he splits out blood. _Oh geez, I'm turning into Sasuke._

"Hm, so you're a little better than I expected. But don't think you'll catch me off guard again, you little brat!" He spits, regaining his balance.

I relax when I see something behide him. I cross my arms and shrug. "Sure. No problem."

He furrows his brows and steps forward. "Listen kid, I don't know what your-"

But next thing you know, one of Naruto's clones kicks him forward. He falls right in front of me and I punch him across the face for good measure. Yep, he's definately out.

I look over to find that the real Naruto has taken down the other guy too. I grin at him and he gives me a thumbs up.

"You guys did it!" Inari exclaims.

"What? Do you think we couldn't?" I ask

"Ya! Believe it!" Naruto laughs.

Inair laughs back, "That was so excellent! Like real ninja!"

"You twerp. I am a real ninja. That's what I've been telling you."

They laugh at each other. "Um, you guys," I interupt, "Maybe we should die these guys up on something and get Tsunami inside?"

"Oh, right!" Naruto says.

"I think we have some rope inside," Inair says.

I nod and go inside to find some while Naruto stays out there with Tsunami and Inari. I finally find some spare rope in a closest and tiw the two up. Then we put them on a boat and send them to who knows where. That was Naruto's idea.

"Naruto, these guys being sent here to take Tsunami, it couldn't have been a coincidence," I tell him after we set Tsunami down in her bed.

"That's what I was thinking," he agrees.

"Right. They were Zabuza's goons. Since they attacked now, that must mean..." I trail off, waiting for Naruto to figure it out.

"That must mean that Zabuza is attacking now too!" His eyes widen when he realizes it. "Tazuna! They're at the bridge with Kakashi-sensei, Sakura, and Sasuke! We need to go and help!"

I nod and Naruto turns to Inari. "We need to go and help out friends," he explains. "You need to stay here."

"You're going up against Gato all alone aren't you?" Inari asks.

Naruto smiles and ruffles Inari's hair. "Don't worry," is all he says. "If anyone comes that isn't us, hit them with, umm..." Naruto looks around and then at me. I shrug. _What are you going to do. It's not like you can give him a ninja tool? _"...uhh, here." He hands Inari a frying pan and I giggle.

"You guys are really going?"

I nod, "We need to help out friends."

"That's right! You're in charge now kid."

And with that, Naruto and I run off. The bridge is all the way through the town. But we should be able to get them in less than ten minutes at this speed. I can't help but think about how the others are doing. If all those people we ran into on our 'mission' are on the bridge, it would be tough for Sakura, Sasuke, and Kakashi-sensei to fight them all off. They're out numbered.

And what about Masaru-sensei, Ichirou, and Daichi? I completely forgot about them. If Zabuza did send someone after them too, they'll be able to defend themselves. I'm sure of it. But guessing by what Mister eye patch said back there about not knowing me, Zabuza doesn't know there's two teams here. He just knows about Kakashi-sensei's. If we play our cards right, we might be able to get this with a sneak attack.

I stop at the bank of the ocean, infront of a huge cloud of...fog?

"What is this?"

Naruto stops next to me. "It's Zabuza's Hidden Mist Jutsu."

I growl in annoyance. "So he's going to make us fight him blind?"

Naruto nods, "Lets go. Our friends are in there." I nod and am about to jump off, but Naruto grabs my arm. "We're going in blind. Be careful, Takara. I mean it."

"You too," I say as we head into the mist. I plant myself on the outside of the side of the bridge, using chakra to keep myself up.

_He's acting so...grown-up. Maybe Kakashi-sensei was right when he sid Naruto has matured the most._

I take back that thought as soon as Naruto jumps right into the battle, turning everyone's attention towards him. I actually facepalm. _That dork! They didn't know we were here until he did that! And I literally just told him to be safe and he does this! At least they still don't know about me._

"Naruto Uzumaki, is here! Ya, believe it!" He grins as soon as the smoke clears. Guess he has a thing for dramatic entrances. "Ha! Now that I'm here, everything will be alright!"

"Naruto!" Sakura calls out happily. I guess they did need backup.

"You know how in stories, the hero usually shows up at the last minute and then kicks butt? Well that's what I'm going to do right now! Believe it!" He shouts, pointing at them.

As I suspected, everyone is giving him annoyed looks. Even his own teammates.

"Alright! You're history! Shadow Clone Jutsu!" Naruto yells, preforming a hand sign. But before he can finish it, Zabuza throws four shuriken at him.

"No!" I hear Kakashi-sensei yell. "Naruto! Move!"

My heart stops as Naruto just stands there.

The person with the mask that I recognize as Haku deflecst them with senbon. _What is he doing? Aren't they on the same team. Thank god he did that though. Naruto froze._

"Huh?" Everyone gasps, including me.

"They didn't get him," Sakura says.

"Their weapons cancelled each othe out. Amazing. Not that's what I call lucky, I think."

"What do you think you're doing, Naruto!? Are you crazy!?" Sakura shouts.

"This is a battle not a talent show," Kakashi-sensei scolds, "Don't let your opponents see your jutsu!"

_I've never seen him this serious. This battle must be the real thing._

"Uhhhh..." Naruto stutters.

"The shinobi's art is deception. Always keep the enemy guessing. Even when executing a single jutsu, one must distract their opponent's attention. Catch them off balance and outmaneuver them. You just turn yourself into a human target when you enter a battle like that," Naruto's sensei says.

Naruto screams and holds his head. "Ahhhh! I'm sorry! I was just trying to rescue everybody!"

Zabuza suddenly narrowd his eyes and turns on one of his teammates. "Haku, what are you doing?"

"Zabuza, this boy...," he says, referring to Naruto, "..let me fight him my own way. Please?"

Naruto clenches his fists and takes a step forward. "Bring it on."

"Hmm, so you want me to bring this to you? Is that is, Haku?" Zabuza says. "As usually, you're too soft."

"Forgive me."

He was right, though. He countered the shuriken when he senbon because they would've hit Naruto and killed him. And he's been fighting Sasuke for awhile now, toying with him. He could hav easily finished him off already, but Sasuke only has scratches. Nothing life-threatening. What's he playing at?

"I'm warning you! One way or another, I'm going to rip off that mask and take you apart!" Naruto threatens.

_No, Naruto. You can't. His chakra levels are incredible. He's way stronger that you. You'll just get hurt._

I quickly asses the battle zone. As of right now, it looks like it's three against three. Or it will be. Sakura is staying back to guard Tazuna. Sasuke is fighting Haku right now and I'm assuming Haku seems to have the upper hand due to the amount of injuries Sasuke has. Kakashi-sensei seems to have his hands full with Zabuza. There's another guy, and judging be how chill he is by standin so close to Zabuza, I'm guessing he's the enemy too. He's the guy that was carrying Zabuza that one time when we ran into Haku and them on the way here. His name was Etsuko. I haven't seen him fight, but if he's half as good as Zabuza, then we're in trouble.

_We need help, _I realize and without a second thought, I get ready to run off to find Masaru-sensei and the others. But as soon as I turn to push off, that man, Etsuko, appears right in front of me.

My eyes widen. He was so fast I didn't even have time to react to his chakra presence. And how did he know I was here. He must be a sensory ninja too. I flip backwards onto the bridge right as his fist drives into the spot my head was just in. His fist breaks straight through the side of the bridge.

My eyes widen again. This guy is fast _and _ strong. I blanch.

"Oh, look who decided to join us. Another one of those brats who claims to be a ninja. I haven't seen this one yet," Zabuza muzes.

I freeze as I realize that my cover is blown. I'm in the middle of the bridge and everyone's attention is on me.

"Takara!" Naruto cried out and I gritted my teeth, staring at Etsuko.

"No! Let her go. This is between my team and yours. She has nothing to do with it," Kakashi-sensei tried to reason.

"The ninja world is unfair Kakashi. Besides, this way it will be more fun. Etsuko!"

The enemy ninja nods and suddenly disappears. But I keep my eyes on his chakra signature so I know vaguely where he is.

My eyes widen and I put my arms up in front of me just in time to block his attack. I skid backwards, but stay on my feet. There's no doubting he's fast. Faster than me.

"Well it looks like this one might be a sensory ninja. Some skill, no doubt, but still annoying. Etsuko, take care of her. I'll deal with Kakashi and Haku will get the other brats," Zabuza growls.

Kakashi-sensei makes a move towards me, but Zabuza cuts him off. "Your battle is with me Kakashi."

Kakashi-sensei narrows his visible eye, glaring at Zabuza. "This is an unfair fight and you know it."

Zabuza laughs, "Who said anything about fair. If these brats really want to become ninjas, then this is what they need."

I wasn't able to catch anything else because Etsuko lunged at me. I dodged his attack again, but barely. I took a deep breathe and urged myself to calm down. I've been training with Masaru-sensei for a week, which might not have been forever, but at least it was something. I cannot freeze again like I did whenever we were traveling here. If I want to be the best ninja some day, I need to start acting like it.

I spin around as I recognize his chakra behind me and send a kick his way. He blocks it with one of his arms, leaving that side of his body completely defenseless. I aim a fist to the side of his stomach, but he catches it with his other hand and I freeze. He's completely defensless now that his two hands are holding my foot and hand, but so am I because he has the leverage.

I push off of him right as he makes a move to pull me towards him. His long fingernails scratch me, drawing blood on my wrist and ankle. I glower at him.

He speacilizes in everything I do, except better judging by his amount of chakra. He's going to be a hard opponent to beat. I'm going to have to keep messing with him here and there to test him out. I need to find something that I'm better at than him. If I do, maybe I can attack him with that and catch him off guard long enough to get rid of him. He's not using his full power yet and I'm not looking forward to when he does.

He doesn't waste anytime in heading towards me again. He's bigger, stronger, smarter, faster, and has more chakra. What do I have that he doesn't?

This time, he tries a different tactic and throws six kunai at me. I dodge all of them and then turn, ready to counter whatever attack he throws at me, but he''s gone.

"Where did he go!?" I hear Naruto yell.

I coudl still sense his chakra, but I couldn't pin point it. It was like...it was everywhere. Was I stuck in his genjutsu? And he couldn't have left. He's fast, but not _that _fast. His chakra was in the air and the bridge. The bridge was crawling in it.

Then, right before I figured it out, Kakashi-sensei yelled, "Takara! Move!"

But it was too late. A hand came through the bridge, grabbing on to my ankle and pulling me _through _the bridge. I gasped and I suddenly felt so much lighter. My hair was flying up, tanlging in front of my face and the bottom of the bridge was getting farther and farther away.

"Takara!" Naruto yelled in alarm over the side of the bridge.

_He dropped me, _I realized. _He pulled me through the bridge from the bottom and dropped me._

I looked behind me and saw the water was getting closer and closer.

_No. I can't fall. This can't be over. But how do I get back up? And so quickly?_

My mind immediately flashed to the jutsu Masaru-sensei taught me about a week ago. _It's not or never, _I thought.

I brought my hands together to make the handsigns. "Water Style: Water Whip Jutsu!" I shout, slinging my hand towards the bottom of the bridge.

A slim string of water came from my hand to the bridge, latching on. It stopped me in midair, only a few feet from the water.

I stayed there, my mouth agape. _It worked. It actually worked. When Masaru-sensei hears this, he's going to be so-._ I stopped my train of thought when I rememebered the situation I was in.

_I need to get back up there and show them that I'm not as easy to get rid of as they think._

I yank back on the water whip, causing me to fly back up towards the others. I release the jutsu when I get close enough and flip over the side, standing on the bridge.

I grin and everyone looks surprised to see me, which, makes me a bit disappointed. I mean, did they have no faith in me whatsoever?

Zabuza growls, "Seems like you're more than a pain than I thought. Time to finish you off. You know what to do, Etsuko."

Etsuko nods and sits dow, closing his eyes.. My eyes widen and I look around to see that everyone else is surprised too. Who sits down in the middle of a battle?!

He mutters something and I take a step forward, "Uhh..."

His eyes flash open and he pushes his palms out towards me. "Hemmorosorbi!"

I freeze mid-step. My body's heavy. And hot. I was shaking. Everything felt on fire. I let out a strangled scream and fell to my knees.

"Stop it!" Naruto yells. "Leave her be!"

"Zabuza! Enough!" Kakashi-sensei yells.

"This is Hrai clan's kekkei genkai," Zabuza explains, ignoring Kakashi-sensei, "They're the only clan in the Hidden Mist that specialize in water and fire style. Usually, kunoichi are born with one and then later learn a second, or if they're lucky, a third. But from the moment they're born, they've taught water and fire style due to their unique kekkei genkai. But I haven't even gotten to the best part, the kekkei genkai requires both styles: fire and water. The user can control either style and use the other to manipulate their opponent in some way. For example, as he is doing now, he is controlling the water in her body with his water style and is using fire style to hurt her. Essentially, he's boiling her from the inside out. It's very effective. But of course, he couldn't have done it if she hadn't shed blood."

_Of course! When he scratched me!_

I scream again and fall flat against the hard pavement. Now that makes sense. My blood...it feels like it's ripping me apart from the inside. Even though this has only been going on for a few moments, my body screams in protest. It hurts so bad. I'm literally on fire inside of my body.

"Zabuza!" Kakashi-sensei yells again. He starts to make his way over to stop Etsuko, but Zabuza throws his hand out.

"You go after him, I go after the bridge builder. You know the rule, Kakashi."

I see Kakashi freeze, debating on what to do. He can't sweep in and save me and ignore the mission.

_It's okay, _I want to say. But I can't seem to make anythng come out of my mouth besides screams.

"Takara! No!" I hear Naruto cry from the other side of me. Haku is keeping him there, while trapping Sasuke in his Ice Mirrors. And Sakura is protecting Tazuna.

As much as I want to get up and fight, I just can't seem to find the strength. I'm guessing my muscles would feel like noodles if I could even feel at all. Everything hurts too much. My vision is blurring and my hearing is going in and out. I still hear my heartbeat loud in my ears, but it hurts, like everything else. I can't feel my toes or fingers anymore. For all I know, I could be dead already.

_But I'm not ready to die. I don't want to._

Miraculously, the pain dulls, then it stops all together. _Am I dead? _ I open my eyes and still see the dark pavement of the bridge. _No. Did they think I was dead and suddenly stop the jutsu?_

A pair of arms suddenly scoops me up and I cry out in pain. My body is still a little bit sensitive. I feel myself being set down against something and I open my eyes to see a familar looking face.

"Hey there, Takara. Don't worry, we're here now."

I small, relieved smile overtakes my face. Talk about perfect timing. They just saved my life.

"Daichi," I say right as my body shuts down from exhaustion.

**Okay, I felt like that was a really crappy chapter. But between you and me, this part is actually my least favorite part, so I'm just kinda trying to get through it. They finally met Zabuza and stuff so ya. My favorite part in the Chunin Exams, which comes after this. In about two or three chapter, they'll be back at the village. Anyways, please read, favorite, and review!**


	11. Chapter Nine

**Chapter Nine**

_Takara's POV_

"Hey, hey, Takara?" I fell Daichi lightly hitting my cheek, trying to get me to stay awake. "I know you're tired, but you can't fall asleep."

He's right. We're in the middle of a battle. My friends might need me.

"Right," I say through gritting teeth. "Help me up."

Daichi slips my arm around his shoulders and gently pulls me up. I cry out silently and Daichi freezes.

"No, no, I'm fine. I'm fine. Just a little sore," I tell him and he nods and keeps going. When I'm at my full height, Daichi hesitantly lets go.

My body still hurts, but not as bad now that the jutsus over. My muscles still feel like jelly, but that's way better than what I was feeling.

"Lets go," I say to Daichi and we head back to the fight.

Whenever we get back to the battle, the first thing I notice is Naruto and Sasuke arguing rather loudly from inside Haku's ice dome.

_Wait, Naruto wasn't in their when I left. How did he- wait, please don't tell me he went in there voluntarily._

As I listen to Sasuke and Naruto's arguing, I come to my conclusion. _Yep, that's exactly what he did._

"Takara!" I hear another familar voice cry out. I turn to see Ichirou and right next to him in Masaru-sensei. At that moment, I don't think I could have been happier. I take a step towards them, but someone steps infront of me. Etsuko.

I unintentionally back up behind Daichi. _What are you doing!? _I curse myself. _A ninja should have no fear! _But I can't help but feel scared by someone who nearly killed me by boiling my blood moments before.

"You again," I hear Zabuza growl. "You've escaped twice before, but you won't be as lucky this time."

Etsuko sits down again, preparing to use his kekkei genkai on me again. I fell myself begin to shake. _I can't handle it another time. _

He thrusts his palms out. "Hemmor-"

Before he could finish, Ichirou comes out of nowhere and kicks him over, interupting the jutsu.

I sigh in relief when nothing hits. Masaru-sensei appears besides me and places a hand on my shoulder. "You did well. I'm very proud. We'll take care of him now. Stay off to the side and recover."

I nod because right now I didn't want anything else. I couldn't really fight in the condition I was in now. I would just bring down my team.

I watch as Masaru-sensei squares off with Etsuko before turning to the ice dome. I hear Naruto and Sasuke scream out in pain as the senbon slice all over their bodies.

What is that jutsu?

"Where is he!?" Naruto yells, frusterated. A thin line of blood trickles down his cheek. "Where's the needle attack coming at us from? Are they clones?"

I look at all of the Haku's in the ice. He does an impressive job in distributing his chakra evenly. So much so that I can't actually tell where he is. But I do knwo that there is only one of him.

"Naruto!" I yell, catching his and Sasuke's attention from inside the dome. "There's only one of him! The ice must be reflective his image or something! They're no clones!"

Their eyes widen. "Takara! You're okay!?" Naruto cries, looking me over for any type of serious injury.

I grit my teeth. "Naruto! Pay attention! You guys are in danger now! I'm fine!"

"She's right, you idiot," Sasuke groans, getting to his feet. "Takara! You be our eyes on the outside!"

I nod and Naruto and Sasuke go back to the matter at hand.

"We've gotta find the real one," Naruto stands up too. "But which one is it?!"

"Look into every mirror as hard as you like. You will never learn the secret," Haku tells him.

Naruto grits his teeth. "Oh ya!? Shadow Clone Jutsu!" My eyes widen.

"No! Don't!" Sasuke yells, but it's too late.

About three dozen clones of Naruto jump up, one for each mirror. _What the heck? When did he learn this jutsu?_

But as fast as Naruto made them, they disappear in a poof of smoke. My eyes narrow. Haku. He's fast. At least three times faster than Etsuko.

"You guys need to get out of there!" I yell, realizing the danger they're actually in.

"You don't think we're trying!" Sasuke growls back.

"These mirrors only reflect my image, allowing me to transport myself with light speed. Through my eyes, you appear to be moving in slow motion," Haku tells them, almost taunting.

Kakashi-sensei gasp, causing my attention to turn to him. "I knew it!" He exclaims, "It's a bloodline trait, a kekkei genkai. Like with Etsuko earlier."

Zabuza chuckles.

"Kekkei genkai?" Sakura questions, "What is it?"

I resist the urge to facepalm. _Really, Sakura? Zabuza just explained it not even ten minutes ago when he had that guy try to kill me._

"It's like my sharingan," Kakashi-sensei explains, "You can't learn it. If has to be in your blood; in your genetic code, passed down from generation to generation within a single clan."

"But that mean..." she trails off.

"Yes, even I can't copy that jutsu. There's no way to destroy it and no way to stop him."

I switch my gaze back to Naruto and Sasuke. They both clench their jaws and Naruto looks down. No, they can't give up. _Come on you two! You can do it! You have to do it!_

"I couldn't break through," Naruto says, catching Sasuke's attention. "So what!? He's not gonna stop me! I'm not giving up and I'm not going to lose here. Cuz I have a dream and no one's gonna take it away from me. Some day I'm going to be respected in my village. That's my dream! To be the greatest Hokage!"

I smile. _That's the Naruto I know and love._

"Dreams..." Haku mutters. "It was not my desire to be a shinobi. It's painful. I don't want to kill you, but if you advance, I will have no choice. And I will kill the kindness in my own heart and fully embrace the shinobi way. And there will be no mercy, no turning back. This bridge will be the battlefield where our dreams collide. Now I must fight for my dream. Just as you fight for yours. Please, do not blame me. I fight for someone who is precious to me. I live for him and I face death for him, so that his dream may become reality. That is my dream. And for the sake of that dream, if I must, I will act as a shinobi and take your lives."

Naruto seems unfazed by his threat and grins and Sasuke smirks. I expected nothing less that a determined goof and a cocky Uchiha.

Let the battle begin.

"Sasuke, Naruto! Take this guy out! You can do it!" Sakura yells encouragingly.

"Don't, Sakura. Don't push them," Kakashi-sensei tells her.

"Huh?"

"Even if they somehow found a way to overcome the mirror jutsu, they still couldn't defeat this ninja."

_Wow, way to have faith in your students._

"Uh, how can you be so sure?" Sakura asks.

Zabuza laughs as Kakashi-sensei answers. "They have the desire to win, but they don't have the instinct to kill. That boy's a whole 'nother breed. He lives for pain, he thrives on it."

"Exactly," Zabuza says, "Your village has become complacent. Your trainees never learn the most important lesson of all: to kill the feelings in their own hearts, to crush an opponet mercilessly, to destroy with no emotion or regret."

"Uh..but then," Sakura starts, "Sensei, what are we gonna do? Please tell us!"

Kakashi-sensei stands there, pondering on what to do. He seems to finally come to his decision and he raises his hand to lift up his Hidden Leaf headband.

_He's gonna use his Sharingan, _I realize, my eyes widening. _He's going to fight Zabuza._

Zabuza laughs, "Sharingan? You're no fun Kakashi, using the same old trick."

Zabuza suddenly charges, much to Kakashi-sensei's surprise, and pulls out a kunai. He dodges it, but Sakura still cries out.

"If it's just an old trick, why did you just stop me"

"Let your opponant see your jutsu too many times and he'll find a way to use it against you," Zabuza laughs.

"Then count yourself lucky. You're the only man alive who's seen my Sharingan twice," Kakashi-sensei says. "Shows over. There won't be a third time."

"Even if you did defeat me, you'd have no chance against Haku."

I turn back to Haku. _Is he inferring that Haku is even more powerful than him? If he is, and Kakashi-sensei is having a hard time beating Zabuza, then Naruto and Sasuke's battle is going to be way more intense._

"When I found him, he was just a street kid," Zabuza continues to explain, "But I trained him in the most advanced ninja techniques. I taught him everything I know. Plus, he had special abilities that he refined on his own. The boy developed quickly. Soon, he could face the most powerful enemy, outnumbered, in total darkness. It didn't matter. He could strike with perfect accuracy. He cared nothing for his own life or the lives of others. He'd become an unique fighting machine: a shinobi. In the end, his powers surpassed even mine. His bloodline trait, the kekkei genkai, cannot be defeated by anyone. I've created a tool that can destroy anything that stands in my way. Unlike the useless punks that follow you around."

I turn to Haku in sympathy. He's was lost, an orphan. Like Naruto. He was just picked up by the wrong personl. Zabuza raised him, become important to him. Now, Haku is doing all of this for Zabuza because he puts Zabuza in front of everyone else, even himself.

"I didn't get to him! Then I'll try it again! As many times as it takes!" Naruto shouts, making a handsign again. "Shadow Clone Jutsu!"

"Naruto! Don't!" Sasuke shouts again. And once again, all of his clones disappear within seconds.

_Didn't Naruto learn his lesson from the last time he attacked? Haku isn't just getting lucky, he's beating them at everything._

"How is he doing that!?" Naruto yells.

"Takara! Anything!?" Sasuke shouts.

"No!" I yell back, grinding my teeth. _I'm completely useless to them! We've already established there's only one Haku. And I'm guessing he's jumping from mirror to mirror in order to attack from everywhere. The problem is tracking him though. He's too fast! Think, Takara! Think!_

I take a deep breathe and close my eyes, clearing my head of anything besides Haku's chakra. I remember my father's words.

_"You have to relax and clear your head. Don't focus on anything but your objective. Think about finding them, seeing them, beating them. Our clan is very special. We're not only sensory ninjas, but we have something else that helps us fight: our eyes."_

My eyes snap open and everything seems so clear... and new. I'm noticing everything now. All these new colors and details...all these new chakras.

A sharp pain pulses in my forehead. "Ahhhh!" I exclaim and back up, squeezing my eyes shut. When I open them up, my new vision seems to be gone. Everything is back to normal again; plain.

I turn back to the ice dome and see Sasuke looking at me, his eyes wide and confused. He quickly turns back to Naruto.

"One more time!" Naruto says, standing back up. "Shadow Clone Jutsu!"

Sasuke runs up to a puddle of water and kicks up some water into the air. My eyes widen when I realize what his plan is. _What do you know? The Uchiha actually does have a good sized brain._

"Don't you see that it's useless?" Haku says before attacking. I grin. Sasuke's got him now.

They both fall to the ground after taking a heavy beating. _Get up, _I urge them, _Get back to your feet._

I look back over to the others to see that most of them have their hands tied too. Sakura is still guarding Tazuna. Kakashi-sensei and Zabuza have finally started their battle. And Masaru-sensei, Ichirou, and Daichi are still fighting Etsuko. But I'm guessing their wrapping their battle up due to the amount of injuries Etsuko has. They've done a good job of keeping themselves out of his reach now that they know what his kekkei genkai can do.

I clench my jaw. I hate not doing anything! Everyone is doing their part but me! But I feel like I can't do anything right now without getting in anyone's way. Zabuza was right, I'm no where close to being a real ninja.

I look back towards the other, but don't see a thing. _The mist. Zabuza made the mist thicker. Now I can barely see three feet ahead of me. The others, they're fighting blind. Wandering off into his mist would be suicide for some, but I actually have a chance since I'm a sensory ninja. If only I could track one of my teammates chakra signatures...but can I leave Naruto and Sasuke? What if they need me and I'm not here?_

I turn back to the dome to see that Naruto and his shadow clones are at it again.

Sasuke preforms handsigns and says, "Fire Styles: Fire Ball Jutsu!"

Instead of hitting Haku with water, he's gonna do it with fire.

I watch as time after time again, Naruto gets pushed down and as Sasuke catches on to Haku's movements.

I stop short when I suddenly hear someone cry out in pain. It wasn't Sasuke or Naruto, it was Masaru-sensei.

I'm moving through the fog before I can even comprehend what's happened. I'm already focused on his chakra and am getting closer. All I can think is: _not our sensei, not our sensei. Please let him be okay. Please._

I appear in front of Ichirou, my heartbeat echoing in my ears. Ichirou turns swiftly, kunai in his hand and a deadly expression across his face. But when he sees that it's me, he lets out a sigh or relief.

"Takara..."

"What's Daichi? Where's Masaru-sensei?" I ask.

He steps out of the way and I see Daichi kneeling next to our sensei. Daichi and Ichirou look fine. I see the panicked expression on Daichi's face directed to our sensei. I freeze when I see the shallow cut on our sensei's stomach. Even though the cut isn't life threatening, it's still dangerous.

"I'm so sorry!" Daichi says. He's shaking, "I got in the way again and- dangit! This is all my fault! Now that guy has your blood and he's going to do that same thing to you he did to Takara!"

Masaru-sensei laughs and places a hand on Daichi's head, ruffling his hair. "You're fine. I must say, I'm a little embarrassed about that scream that I let slip. He caught me by surprise."

"Sensei..." I begin, coming out from behind Ichirou. He eyes flicker to mine and his smile turns sheepish.

"Takara...hi.."

I grit my teeth and resist the urge to hit my sensei. "What did I tell you!? You knew what his kekkei genkai was! I wasn't expecting you to be this reckless!"

Ichirou and Daichi's eyes widen at me scolding our sensei and back up.

"Sorry," Masaru-sensei gives me a sweet smile and I roll my eyes.

"If that guy does have his blood, why hasn't he started?" Daichi asks.

_Good question. _I turn in a circle, searching for his chakra. When I find him, it turns out that he's down aways from us. About thirty yards or so.

I surpress a laugh and turn back to Team 4 with a goofy smile on my face.

"What?" Ichirou asks.

"The fog," I begin to explain, "It's not just affecting us, but him too. I'm guessing you guys beat him up enough, causing his chalra levels to be extremely low. That's why he can't sense our whereabouts now."

"So, he's just wandering around blind?" Masaru-sensei sums up.

This time, I'm not able to hold in my laugh. "That's exactly what I'm saying."

Daichi falls back in relief at finding out that he didn't really end his sensei's life. "So lets go get him."

Ichirou nods. "Since he's chakra levels are so low, we should take him out now while we have the advantage." He motions to me.

"Right. Since I'm a sensory ninja, I'll lead us to him. Daichi and Ichirou will have to attack alone. I don't know what the time range is for his jutsu, but I don't want to go through that again. And Masaru-sensei is going to stay here. Got it?" I ask the three.

Ichirou and Daichi nod. Masaru-sensei laughs. "Who would've thought I would have been taking orders from my students on their first mission."

I smile. "Take care of yourself," I tell him before grabbing Daichi and Ichirou's hand and leading them through the log torwards Etsuko.

"Attack at the same time. It shouldn't be too hard to take him down. He's exhausted." I stop and point forward. "He's twently feet ahead."

They nod and disappear into the fog ahead of me. In a few moments, I heard a gasp and then a strangled cry followed by a few punches.

When I no longer detected the enemy's chakra, I walked up and found Daichi and Ichirou. They stood over Etsuko's body, a bloody kunai in both of their hands.

I looked down at the enemy ninja sadly and bent down to close his eyes. "I'm sorry," I tell him.

"What are you sorry for!? A hour ago, he almost killed you?" Ichirou asked.

I shrugged, "He didn't want to kill me. He was just following orders. Just like Zabuza is following orders. No one can kill people without a reason and no feel regret."

I take Daichi and Ichirou back to Masaru-sensei. Our sensei is now standing, but I tell him to sit back down as I apply bandanges over his wound. Even though it's not fatal, it still needs to be tended.

"So you guys did it, huh?" He asks the three on us.

I nod, "Ya. He's not a problem anymore." I stand up when I finish and our sensei pushes himself up too.

"It seems like Kakashi-sensei is still busy with Zabuza and Naruto and Sasuke are still caught up?" Masaru-sensei suspects and I freeze, feeling slightly guilty for forgeting about Naruto and Sasuke.

An ear-splitting scream is suddenly let out and we all know who it is immediately.

Our sensei turns to me "Takara, take us to Sakura."

I nod and quickly grab Daichi's hand as he grabs Ichirou's and Ichirou grabs our sensei. _Sakura...please be okay._

When Sakura and Tazuna comes into view, I stop short and my eyes widen when I realize they're not alone.

"What? What is it?" Masaru-sensei asks urgently.

"Zabuza and Kakashi-sensei..." I say and run forward. The others follow. Sure enought, when we get in range we see Kakashi-sensei in front of Tazuna and Sakura.

_He's protecting them._ I see his hand holding his side. _Zabuza cut him with his sword. Incredible. But Kakashi-sensei is using his Sharigan!_

"Kakashi!" Our sensei yells, coming up to stand next to him.

"Masaru...get out of here," Kakashi-sensei says.

"So you four are here," Zabuza says in distaste, "I take it you defeated Etsuko. He was useless if he could be taken down by the likes of _you _four."

My eyes widen and I take a step forward. "How dare you! Etsuko was on your side! He faught for you!"

Zabuza laughed, "Ahh, look at this one. He was a tool, nothing more."

I grind my teeth and am about to take another step, but Masaru-sensei stops me. "Takara, take Ichirou, Daichi, Sakura, and Tazuna somewhere safe. Stay with them. Kakashi and I will take care of Zabuza."

I growl under my breath. As much as I want to pound Zabuza's face in, 1) my sensei gave me an order and I need to fulfill it, and 2) I doubt I could even lay a finger on Zabuza, so I lead them away.

"That's right. Run away..." Zabuza's taunting voice says as I disappear through the crowd.

I stop whenever we're a good sixty or so yards away from Zabuza and the others.

I turn to Ichirou. "Stay here. I'll be right back. I just have to go check on something."

I make a move to leave, but Ichirou grabs my wrist and narrows his eyes at me. "Masaru-sensei told you to stay with us."

"Sasuke and Naruto are in trouble. I need to help them."

Sakura gasps. Daichi steps forward. "Takara, you should listen to..." he begins, but I'm already twisting my way out of Ichirou's grip.

"Don't worry. I'll be back in a flash!" I yell as I disappear into the fog and make my way to the ice dome.

I focus on their chakras and increase my speed when I realize that they're both extremely weak. _This can't be good. No, no, no. Hang in there guys. I'm coming._

I don't even bother to stop running when I see the familar ice dome show up in front of me. I run straight into the ice, placing my hands on two ice panels and look in in the crack between them.

My heart stops at what I see. Naruto is on the ground, dozens of needles lodged into his body. My heart skips a beat. _No, no... he's ont dead...right?_

I try to sense his chakra, but everything seems blurry. _Really, my body chooses now to get tired? _All of my fighting today has finally caught up with me. Just like Etsuko, my chakra levels are low, causing my judgement to cloud. Which alos meant that I couldn't sense chakra presence right now because my own was so low.

At this point I didn't even care that I was probably comitting suicide by entering the ice dome. All I couldd think about was the possibility on my best friend being dead.

I ran up to Naruto and dropped down beside him, pulling his head on to my lap.

"Takara...?" I heard a familar voice grunt. But it wasn't Naruto.

I look to find Sasuke in front of us. My eyes widen. I didn't notice him earlier, I was too busy thinking about Naruto. My eyes flicker to Haku, who has fallen infront of Sasuke. Is he dead? I look back to Sasuke to find him in even worse condition than Naruto.

"Sasuke...?" I whisper, tears automatically welling in my eyes.

Naruto stirs in my lap and opens his eyes. Sasuke switches his attention to Naruto.

"You always...g-get in the way, N-naruto," he grunts out, "It-t never fails."

"Ah! You beat him Sasuke!" Naruto exclaims, getting the wrong idea. He sits up straight.

"Naruto...no.." I whisper, biting my lip.

The smile falls off Naruto's face when he realizes what's happening and his eyes grow wide.

"Ugh, you should see the l-look on your face.." Sasuke turns.

My mouth turns up in a sad smile. Even now, Sasuke has to mock Naruto.

"You-you look like a total loser."

"Why...why did you...uh save me?" Naruto asks, his cerulean eyes wavering. "Why did you do it?"

"I-I don't know w-why. I just did."

I stare at him, at all the needles covering hiss body. Sasuke Uchiha...is dying. A week ago I would've thought he would rather kiss Naruto again than protect his own teammates. I never would've thought he would die this young. Whenever I thought of Sasuke Uchiha, sure, I thought of a cocky, arrogant, annoying, depressing, rude, snooty kid. But I also thought of the smart, talented, reasonable, strong, brave kunoichi. He's not suppose to die now. He's only tweleve. He still has all of his life to live and dreams to complete. But he won't be able to, because he's dying. And what did I do? I came in too late, like I always do. I think back to the week I've spent here. I thought of all the fights Naruto and Sasuke use to get in and all the fights they still do get in. I thought of all those times Sasuke had to outrun his fangirls on the way home so they wouldn't force themselves into his house. I thought of all the times he preformed at the academy, either enchanting the girls or annoying the guys. I thought of the fight we had to the hallway the second night we were here, which reminds me, he still hasn't accepted that apology.

I squueze my eyes shut, letting a few tears trail down my cheeks. "Sasuke I'm so sor-"

"Save it, Takara," He says not unkindly. He smirks at me from over his shoulder, "Heh, who would've guessed, you're actually crying over me."

I wanted to hit him so bad right now, but I laughed. I laughed because this was Sasuke. "Shut up, Uchiha."

He turns back to Naruto, a smirk still covering his face. "You...I always...hate y-you."

Naruto jumps up and clenches his fists. "Then why? It doesn't make any sense! Why did you...protect me? I didn't ask for this! I didn't ask for you to save me!"

"I don't know. My body...just m-moved. There wa-was no time to...think... Loser..." Sasuke groans before falling backwards. I quickly move forward, catching him in my arm before he hit the ground.

"Sasuke!" I cry out, squeezing my eyes shut again. _Stop crying, stop crying, stop crying, stop crying._

Naruto kneels down beside me. My tears flow down my cheeks and fall from my face and on to Sasuke.

"Takara...stop crying..."

"I don't take c-comands form Uchih-has," I say through clenched teeth.

Sasuke turns back to Naruto. "He's-he's still out there...My brother..."

My eyes widen at this. _His brother? I thought Sasuke was the last Uchiha?_

"I..promised myself...I'd...stay alive...until...I...killed him.." Sasuke groaned out. I found this surprising too, but I could care less about his brother. All I care about is saving the dark haired boy in my lap.

"Sasuke. Shhhhh. Just...s-shut up, okay? Y-you're not going to die. Kakashi-sensei and Masaru-sensei will be over here any minute now and they'll get you help."

"No..I'm d-dying Takara. I don't want t-to...but..but I am," he says in a voice that makes him sound strangely vunerable.

"Shut up! You don't get to d-decide that! You can't just make friends and leave like this! You st-"

"Takara," Naruto says sadly, placing a hand on my shoudler.

_Stop crying, stop crying, stop crying, stop crying._

"If this is what h-happens to people who choose...the path of the n-ninja, then I...then I want nothing to do with it!"

"Don't be...an i-idiot," Sasuke says, coughing up blood.

_This is it. He's really leaving. _I suddenly feel like I need to get everything out. "I'm so sorry for what I said in the hallway that one night. I had no right to say that stuff! Especially when I barely knew you. You're nothing like that and I-"

"T-Takara...shut..up," he cracks a smile. "Don't...give up..o-on becoming...a n-ninja."

He looks over at Naruto and raises his hand. He's shaking. "Naruto...don't...don't let...your dream die."

And then just like that, his hand fell. It seemed to go in slow motion. I watched as it grew limp and then as it gave into gravity. My hand shot out and I grabbed his hand. It was cold.

"Sasuke" I mumer, tears clouding my vision. "Sasuke!" I say louder. And of course, I get no repsonse. I grit my teeth and shake my head. I wonder if this is what it's like for everyone? For Etsuko? Of course it is. They all have their own people who care about them. So more than others. And then those people just...die.

Sasuke may not have been my best friend, or even a friend. He may not have been on my team or he may not have been my crush or whatever, but he was a comrade. We grew up together, even if we hardly bumped into one another or got annoyed with each other. We were born in the same year and went through the academy and trained together for six years. And now he's gone.

_Stop crying, stop crying, stop crying, stop crying._

I look up at Naruto, barely able to make out his face through the tears. He must be even worse that I am. Sasuke _was _on Naruto's team. Sasuke was Naruto comrade, rival, and friend.

"Naruto...?" I croak. His eyes were wide and he seemed to be staring at nothing in particular. He gave me no response. He didn't even blink.

"Naruto?" Nothing. His cerulean eyes just stared, traumatized.

"Naruto!? Say something!" I yell. Nothing. Out of the corner of my eye I see Haku stand up. _Him. He did this._

"He found...he found a strength he didn't realize he had. Why? Because of a certain person who was precious to him. To save that person, he rushed in, knowing it was a trap. He was a true ninja. Worthy of honor. Is this the first time you've seen a friend die in battle? This is part of what it means to be a ninja," Haku says, going back into one of the mirrors.

"Shut up!" Naruto growls. I look up at him. His eyes are squeezed shut, his jaw clenched, and his fists tightened. He's shaking. "I...I hated you too Sasuke. And yet..."

I feel the hairs on my arms stand up as something in the atsmosphere changes. A circle of smoke seems to form around us. Something is...off. It's not right, something wrong. _It's Naruto._

"...you'll pay for this."

I pull Sasuke closer, hugging him to my chest. The whole dome begins to fill with smoke.

"N-Naruto, what are you d-doing?" I ask, looking around, ready for anything. I get no response.

Suddenly, an whirl of inferno surrounds Naruto, blowing my hair back. That when I realize it isn't fire, it's...it's chakra. I may not have enough energy to sense chakra anymore, but I can definately tell, this is bad. I can't sense it, but I can feel it. This chakra...is out of this world. What could exsist that has this high of chakra levels. It's terrifying. And what's scaring me the most is who it's coming from: Naruto.

The inferno thins out and I finally see Naruto. I gasp at what I see. _That's Naruto?_

His features are sharper. The whisker-like marks on his cheeks are thicker down. His normally messy blonde hair is standing straight up, almost in spikes. His incisors have grown longer, almost making it appear as if he has fangs. And his eyes...His once beautiful cerulean eyes have turn to a blood red.

"I'm going to kill you!" He snarls out.

_Naruto..._I stare in shock, my mouth open and eyes wide, _what's happened to you?_

**Ya! I finished another chapter and uploaded it. I liked this chapter a lot more than the last one. It was really action-packed and emotional though. And no, Takara doesn't love Sasuke. That wasn't why she was so upset. You have to remember she's just a naturally senstitive girl and cares about everyone. But anyways, you better love me. This is the second chapter today. You probaby won't be getting the next one until next weekend. Review, read, and favorite! Let me know how you feel!**


	12. Chapter Ten

**Chapter Ten**

**In about 24 hours, I've gotten eleven reviews (or comments) on my last chapter! That's amazing guys! Thank you so much! I've gotten a few since then, but not as much. So here's chapter ten a little bit early. But first, here's a quick little recap. I won't do recaps for every chapter. I'll only do it if the chapter before ended really dramatically, which is sorta did.**

_Recap:_

_ I feel the hairs on my arms stand up as something in the atsmosphere changes. A circle of smoke seems to form around us. Something is...off. It's not right, something wrong. _It's Naruto.

_ "...you'll pay for this." _

_ I pull Sasuke closer, hugging him to my chest. The whole dome begins to fill with smoke. _

_ "N-Naruto, what are you d-doing?" I ask, looking around, ready for anything. I get no response. _

_ Suddenly, an whirl of inferno surrounds Naruto, blowing my hair back. That when I realize it isn't fire, it's...it's chakra. I may not have enough energy to sense chakra anymore, but I can definately tell, this is bad. I can't sense it, but I can feel it. This chakra...is out of this world. What could exsist that has this high of chakra levels. It's terrifying. And what's scaring me the most is who it's coming from: Naruto._

_ The inferno thins out and I finally see Naruto. I gasp at what I see. _That's Naruto?

_ His features are sharper. The whisker-like marks on his cheeks are thicker down. His normally messy blonde hair is standing straight up, almost in spikes. His incisors have grown longer, almost making it appear as if he has fangs. And his eyes...His once beautiful cerulean eyes have turn to a blood red._

_ "I'm going to kill you!" He snarls out._

Naruto..._I stare in shock, my mouth open and eyes wide, _what's happened to you?

_Takara's POV_

I watch in horror as Naruto starts to growl. _Growl. _Like an animal. This isn't Naruto, but...it is. It's something else. I've never seen this before from him. It's terrifying.

Naruto rises to his feet, his jaw clenched. He looks feral, dangerous. This chakra sure feels dangerous. But who, or what's, chakra is it? Whatever it is, it seems to be having a heavy toll on Naruto.

_(Flashback)_

_"And we're not going to grow apart now that we're one different teams?"_

_ I sit up again, "Naruto, I'm never going to leave you," I grin, "You're me best friend."_

_ He smiles, "And you promise that you'll never change your mind, even if..." he places his other hand on his stomach, "...even if I'm different."_

_ I laugh, "I'm pretty sure everyone's established that you're different Naruto. You're always so- "_

_ "No," he interupted me, "Not like a good different, it's like a bad different..."_

_(End of Flashback)_

Is _this_ what he was talking about that last night? This power is the 'bad different' thing he mentioned?

I cringe as I hear Naruto groans of pain. _What is he doing? He's hurting himself._

"Naruto!" I call out, but my voice can barely be heard over the blazing chakra and the wind it's causing.

My blood freezes when I guttural roar come from Naruto, his blood red eyes staring down at Haku, ready to rip him into pieces without a second glance. _I can't let him do this. This isn't Naruto, this isn't my best friend._

"Naruto!" I try again. Useless.

Naruto roars and Haku finally realizes this isn't some threat to be taken lightly. He flings senbon at Naruto, but Naruto lets out anothe growl, deflecting it his his new found chakra.

I grab on to Sasuke tighter and suck in a breathe. _This power...it's out of this world. And Naruto's been dealing with this this whole time._ I can't help but feel hurt that he never told me, his best friend, about this. And it's at this moment that I realize I'm not afraid _of _him, but afraid _for _him.

"Naruto!" I cry out again, panicked. "Naruto, stop! This isn't you!"

He ignores me and crouches, jerking his head in every direction, watching for Haku. _He actually intends to kill him. And he could, in this state. He's not getting any weaker, if anything, he seems to be gaining power._

I watch as Haku appears on every mirror. _He's going to try to wipe him out right now, with one final blow._

Haku throws his senbons from every direction. I expect Naruto to deflect them like he did before, but he doesn't. They all pierce into his back and my breathe catches in my throat.

But then Naruto stands up and throws his arms out, emitting another roar and wave of his red chakra. All of the senbon fall out of his body. When the red chakra wave hits out, I lean over and protect Sasuke's lifeless body. I grit my teeth as it dances over my skin. _It almosts burns._

When I look back up, I see Naruto punch on of the ice mirrors, breaking it. My eyes widen. _I can't believe it. He's going to break the supposedly unbreakable jutsu._

Haku slips out of one of the shards of the broken ice mirror, preparing to strike from above.

"Naruto!" I cry out, trying to warn him. But he dodges, spinning out of the way and landing next to us.

"Naruto...?" Now that he's closer, maybe he can actually hear me, that is, if he's in his right mind. I doubt he is, but it's worth a try. "Naruto, fight it. I know you and you wouldn't want this. You're just upset."

He doesn't even turn to me. He keeps his eyes on Haku, growling as he gets back to his feet.

"Naruto," I reach out and latch on to his hand. He's shaking. He feels so...strong and hot. Like he's burning up.

Naruto's head snaps to me, but right when I got his attention, Haku throws more senbon. My angry bestfriend growls and leaps out of the way, focusing back on Haku.

_Dangit! I almost got him to listen!_

"Stop attacking him! You're only making it worse for him and yourself!"

Haku turns to retreat back into the safety of one of the ice mirrors, but before I can blink, Naruto is right behind him, grabbing his sleeve.

"No! Naruto!" I yell right as he lets out another wave of evil chakra. I cry out when it reaches me, shielding myself and Sasuke. I never thought there was a thing as having too much power as long as the person knew what to do with it. But this...this is too much power for dozens of people to know what to do with it. And Naruto holds it all.

My hair whips around my face as I crack on of my eyes open, trying to see what's going on. But I can't see anything. The chakra and wind is too much. I close my eyes again, hugging closer to Sasuke.

_Naruto. Be careful. This power is too much._

The chakra itself skides over my skin, feeling like sand during a sandstorm. But it doesn't just hurt me physically. It's doing something to my chakra inside to. It's acting up and moving all around. Seems like nothing likes this.

I open my eyes when the chakra storm suddenly ends. I watch as all the ice mirrors slowly crack, then fall down all together. _Naruto broke the jutsu? But how? Did he kill Haku? _I look past Naruto and see Haku laying on the bridge, about ten yards or so away.

Naruto lets out a battle cry and charges towards Haku, who is dragging himself to him feet. _This is it._

Naruto raises his fist and my heart skips a beat. I count the steps he takes until he delievers the final blow. And Haku is just standing there. Naruto jumps up and pulls back his arm, ready for the hit. His fist stops inches from Haku's face as his mask slips off his face.

I gasp. That's him. The boy Sasuke and I saw talking to Naruto in the woods the other day. He's Haku!? We met the enemy before this. He must've knew who we were? Why didn't he kill us then?

I let out a breathe I hadn't realized I'd been holding when I feel Naruto's mystery chakra fade away. In other words, he's back to normal.

"So, that guy in the woods, that was you!?" Naruto asks Haku. But it's more of an accusation.

"Why do you not strike?" Haku answers simply, ignoring Naruto's question.

"Huh?"

"Did you not just vow to avenge your comrade's death by killing me? Or was that vow just empty words?"

Naruto turns around to face Sasuke and I. I see his face fall slightly at the two of us, but he clenches his fist and turns back on Haku and growls. He raises his fists and narrows his eyes, trying to bring himself to deliever the final blow, but he can't.

_I knew it. Naruto just isn't like that. He doesn't solve death with more death._

He finally hits Haku, surprising me. But it wasn't a death blow. It was simply a hit of anger and frustration. Nevertheless, Haku falls over due to his already weak state.

"No. That won't do," Haku says, pushing himself back up to his feet, "You're still holding back. If that is all the strength you can put into it you will never keep your vow. Perhaps he didn't mean as much to you as your pretend?"

I grit my teeth. "You shut up!" I yell, causing both of their heads to turn to me. "Naruto and Sasuke may have not been on the same team long, but that doesn't mean that they were nothing to one another. They grew close. And although you do deserve everything Naruto was hitting you, he's not going to kill you because he's better than that!"

"Takara...," Naruto mutters, looking back at Haku.

"Naruto, you don't have to do this just for Sasuke. This isn't you and you know it."

He grits his teeth. Haku starts talking before Naruto can reply.

"To show mercy to those who oppose the one your serve, to allow his enemies to live when you could strike them down. This is not compassion. It is a betrayal of your life's very purpose. For what reason do you exsist then? You're of use to no one. Your life has no meaning, it is meer exsistance. Day after day of pain and struggle, signifying nothing."

"Ya, well, speak for yourself!"

"Are you really that blind, little one? I am speaking of myself. This day has shown that I am no longer any use to Zabuza."

"Zabuza?" Naruto questions. "Why that guy anyway!? To devote your life to a rotten skunk who doesn't know the meaning of the word honor!? If he's really the one person that matters to you, man, that's the sorriest thing I've ever heard!"

"There were once others that mattered to me," Haku says, "Long ago. My father and my mother. I was born in the Land or Water, in a small village where the snow lies deep in the winter. My parents were farmers and very poor. Our life was hard. We were content. My parents were good to each other and kind to me. Yes, we were happy once. But because of something that happened long before I was even born, everything changed."

"What do you mean? What was it? What happened?" Naruto asked frantically.

"It wasn't my doing. It is in the blood," Haku explained.

"Blood? So what was it!? You said something happened that changed everything!"

"It was my father who changed. He killed my mother and he almost killed me."

Naruto and my eyes widened. _His own father!? _ I tried to imagine my father doing that, but I couldn't. _He would never. No father should ever harm their children! It's their job to protect them!?_

"After years of suffering and the horrors of civil war, the people of my land had come to fear and hate anyone who carried the kekkei genkai in their blood," Haku continued.

"Kekkei genkai?"

"The advanced bloodlilne trait of a clan," Haku explained, "It's jutsu and abilities, passed down from generation to generation. Because of their unique abililties, the clans were used as mercenaries. They faught many battle and were much feared. But when the wars were over, they were despised and shunned by the people, who feared their presence would only bring more war and misfortune. So it was after these wars, these clans went into hiding, denying the bloodlines trait that flowed in their veins, concealing their unique abilities, knowing that to be discovered meant certain death. If you had search that boy's memories, I'm sure you would have found it there too: the cruelty of people, their fear of things they don't understand. For years my mother was successful in hiding her bloodline trait. She met and fell in love with a simple farmer. And they were married. And after that, my mother thought she would live a peaceful, ordinary life to the end of her days. But it was anything but that. Unfortunately, the bloodline trait was passed down to me. I thought of it as a meer tool, a unique ability. My mother quickly scolded me and told me never to use it again. But it was too late, my father had seen. He knew our secret, my mother's and mine. He killed me mother and tried to kill me as well. I was scared and confused. I killed him with my kekkei genkai. When at last I was myself again, I was no longer myself. My father and mother were gone, but I knew that something else had been taken from me. Something even more important. And that is when I truely despaired."

"More important than your mother and father? What?"

"My purpose. In all the world, there was no one who needed me. I was...unnecessary."

_So that's why he joined up with Zabuza? To feel needed?_

"Why is it you're so determined to be Hokage?" He asked Naruto. "Because you want all eyes in your village to look at you and recognize you as a great ninja. You see it only through the eyes of others that our little lives have any significance. When there is no one who sees you or no one will even look at you. It's as if you do not exsist. Then Zabuza came along and looked at me. And his eyes were not full or hate or fear. He did not shun me for my strangeness. Indeed, my special powers were just what he wanted. He made me neccesary again. I was happy. I have failed you, Zabuza. I am like a weapon that has been broken and is of no further use." He looks up at Naruto, who still looks as conflicted as ever. "Naruto...kill me."

"That's the most ridiculous story I've ever heard!" Naruto exclaims, stumbling backwards. "I mean, he treats you like a slave! You're a human being, not a weapon or a tool! How can you care about someone like that!?"

"For that very reason. Does that seem so strange to you?"

"Well, ya. A little."

"When he found me, I was without a purpose or reason for living. Zzabuza gave me both. But now, my usefullness is over. The only thing that gave my life meaning, it's gone. I am a broken tool, a blunted weapon of no use to anyone. Go on, Naruto. Do it. For both of our sakes. Do it quickly. Go on. Finish it. Kill me."

Naruto takes a step back, uncertain.

"Why do you hesitate?"

Naruto gasps and then clenches his jaw, eyes wavering.

"I thought you wanted to be a mighty warrior?" Haku's eyes narrow.

"That's not what it's about!" Naruto grunts, "Do you really believe that's all there is to it? Just fighting and killing until there's only one man left standing? There's a lot mroe to being shinobi than that! And there are other ways of showing your strength than just by beating someone in battle."

"I've had a feeling all along. From the first moments we met in the woods. We're a lot alike."

Naruto's eyes widen and I take the moment to cast out the two's similarites. _He's right. They life style they both had. The pain they went through. It's the same._

"I'm sure you know what I mean," Haku tells him. "I am only sorry that it must be your hand that it tainted with my unworthy blood."

"Sure about this? And you're positive that it's the only way?"

"Yes."

Naruto closes his eyes. "The weird thing is, that if we met in another time and place I think that maybe we could've been friends." When his eyes flash open, it's no longer my prank pulling best friend I see, it's a dedicated kunoichi. Naruto reaches for a kunai and makes his way towards Haku.

I close my eyes and look down. I've seen some deaths before. Not many. But I know that death and defeat is the way of the ninja. I"ve prepared myself for it I thought, but something about this is different. I find myself unable to watch.

"Yes. That's right. Hold fast to your dreams," I hear Haku say.

"This is for Sasuke! Because he also had a dream!"

I hear Naruto's feet hit the ground as he runs towards him. I squeeze my eyes shut tighter, anticipating the hit, but it never comes. I hear a punch and then a clatter. I open my eyes to see that Haku had deflected Naruto's kunai. _What is he doing? He just wanted Naruto to kill him? Is he playing some sort of game?_

"Sorry, Naruto. Change of plan," he explains. And then still holding Naruto's wrist with one hand, he preforms handsigns with the other.

_What is he up to? _My eyes widen. _Is he going to attack Naruto?_

"I'm not ready to die just yet," Haku says.

I straighten back up. "Naruto! Watch out! He's gonna-" but right in the middle of me warning Naruto, Haku jumps into the air at an incredible speed.

"Huh? W-what? Where'd he go!?" Naruto yells, looking all around for him. "Huh? Hey? Uh, the fog's lifting."

Naruto was right. The air was getting clearer and easier to see now.

"Wait, is that him?"

I look over to the spot where Naruto is staring and see two- no three figures. It looks like...I squint my eyes. I can't quite make it out. Apparently neither can Naruto because he takes off towards the figures. I can't tell if he's saying anything. They're all about 70 yards away, too long away for me to hear anything.

I turn back to the limp body in my arms, feeling tears begining to well in my eyes again at the sight of him. _Stupid Uchiha._

"Takara!" I hear Daichi and Ichirou yell. I guess not that the fog has lifted, or at least become thinner, they can see.

I freeze, thinking of what they're reactions are going to be when they see this. Oh no, what about Sakura? She'll be heartbroken.

"Hey, Takara, you guys did it, huh? That was awesome..." Daichi begin as him and Ichirou run towards me. He trails off and starts to slow down when he sees the body in my arms.

"Is that...?" Ichirou questions and because I don't trust my voice right now, I just nod. I turn my head down, letting my hair cover my face.

They don't say anything, but I feel them coming closer. They both kneel on either side of me, gazing at the dark haired kunoichi.

"Sasuke..." Daichi says.

"Hey guy!" I hear a familar voice yell, making me cringe. Not here, please not her.

Ichirou and Daichi stand up. "Sakura..."

"What?" She's stopped now. She's right in front of them. If they moved she would see him. "What's wrong you guy? Where's Sasuke?"

I grind my teeth together and clench my fists. _You idiot! _I curse Sasuke. _I told you not to make friends only to leave them behind. Look what you did!? He broke Sakura's heart!_

I hear a shuffle and I know she's pushed past the boys. I take a deep breathe and let go of Sasuke. I stand up and look at her through my watery eyes.

"I"m sorry, Sakura."

She looks at me and then looks down at Sasuke and then back up at us again. She's staring like she doesn't believe it. Like she doesn't believe the great Sasuke Uchiha is dead.

I hear her breathing start to get heavy and tears start to drip down her cheeks. She drops to her knees beside him, taking the stop I was just at. Her hand reaches out to cradle Sasuke's cheek.

"His body's cold. This isn't just one of his genjutsu tricks, is it?" Sakura asks and I bit my lip and shake my head.

"I'm sorry," I say again, "I tried to help. I really did. But like every other time, I was too late."

"No. It's not your fault Takara. Don't...don't blame yourself." Her voice begins to grow small.

"Go on. You don't need to be brave on my account," Tazuna says, speaking for all of us. "Go ahead and let your feelings out, Sakura. It's alright."

She continues to stroke his cheek. "I was the best. Aced evey test at the academy. The perfect student. Did you know there are more than 100 principles of shinobi conduct? I memorized every single one. I use to love it when they tested us on them. It gave me a chance to show how smart I was. I remember, so clearly, this one exam. They asked us to explain the 25th principle. I got it right of course." She stops and tries to hold back her tears. "A shinobi never shows his feelings no matter what the circumstance is. Feelings are a weakness and only cloud a judgement and weaken a sense of duty."

_ I remember that. I failed it. When it comes to ninja matters, or any matters, I tend to get my feeling a little too involved._

Sakura stops and quietly starts sobbing. But soon, her sobs are racking her body. Coming out harshly like they're being forced out.

"Sasuke!" She cries out as she collapses on his chest.

I turn away, prepared to walk off. _This is all too much. _But once I take a step, my knees seem to give out. Luckily, Daichi and Ichirou catch my arms and haul me back up.

"Are you okay?" Daichi asks while Ichirou looks at me with concerned etched on his face.

I wave them off, "I'm fine." I pull myself out of their grasp and take another step forward. It isn't until I see the ground rushing up at me at a miraculous speed that I realize I am most definately not fine.

And then, I black out.

_(SKIP)_

When I awoke, I found myself in an unfamilar place. _Where am I? What am I doing here? _I sifted through my brain to find out what happened before this.

_Oh, that's right. I was on the bridge. We were battling Zabuza and Haku. Sasuke...and that thing inside of Naruto. Then I passed out. Probabaly from using too much chakra or something. How embarrassing._

I swing my legs over the side of the bed. _Well then where am I? I wold recognize it if it was Tazuna's house, right? And I don't think they would travel the whole way back to the village with me unconscious?_

I hear the door slide open. Masaru-sensei, Ichirou, Daichi, Kakashi-sensei, Sakura, and Naruto are there. _No Sasuke._

Masaru-sensei smirks, "So you're feeling better?"

"Ya," I grumble, standing up. "I can't believe I passed out in the middle of a battle? What happened?"

"The threat is gone," is all Kakashi-sensei says.

"So, you mean that Haku and Zabuza are dead?" When no one says anything, I take that as a yes.

"I'm glad you're okay," Daichi says, giving me a smile.

"Are you well enough to travel?" Masaru-sensei asks.

"Ya, of course. Uh, where are we?"

"Tazuna's house," Ichirou answered. I guess this is just one of the room's I haven't been in yet.

"And how long have I been out?"

"About two days," Sakura supplies and I nearly choke.

"Two days!?"

"Don't worry. You needed your rest. We'll be downstairs. Come down when you're ready to leave," Our sensei says, guiding everyone out of the room.

Naruto stays put as Kakashi-sensei slides the door closed. Now it's just Naruto and I in the room. I noticed he didn't say anything before, which is odd, because he's usually the first to day something. I stare at him, but he won't meet my eyes. He's looking down a the floor, causing his hair to sheild his face.

"Naruto...?"

In the blink of an eye, he's right in front of me, his arms wrapped around my in a tight embrace. My eyes widen as I stumble back from the impact.

"I'm so sorry!" Naruto cries out, tightening his arms around me. He presses his face into my hair. My neck feels wet. _He's crying, _I realize. "For the thing that happened at the bridge. I should have told you about it! I was just so scared you wouldn't accept me! I was scared of losing my best friend! It just came out whenever I thought he killed Sasuke! I'll tell you all about it! I'm-"

"Wait? What do you mean 'whenever I _thought _he killed Sasuke'?" I ask, pulling back.

Naruto gives me a teary-eyed smile. "Oh, ya. I forgot you passed out and didn't see that part. Haku didn't acutally kill Sasuke. He's fine."

"Sasuke's...alive?"

Naruto nods. _Okaayyyy...that's kind of a lot to take in. I'm glad he's okay. Oh god, all those things I said.._

"What about you?" I ask Naruto. "You're okay, right?"

Naruto gives me a tenative smile. "Ya."

I take a deep breathe and ask the question that I've been wondering this whole time. "So, what was that power that you unleashed on the bridge?"

Naruto lowers his eyes again and collapses on the bed. "It's apparently called a tailed beast. It's the Nine Tailed Fox."

My eyes widen and I hold in a gasp when I recognize the name. That was the creature that destroyed our village many years ago. _But what is Naruto doing with it's chakra._

"The Nine Tailed Fox is sealed inside of me."

This time I can't hold in my gasp. "But how!? It's inside of you!? You're carrying the Nine Tailed Fox!?" _I didn't want to believe it. I mean, how could someone hold all that power!? But after what I saw on the bridge, it seems like this is the only explanation. And is that why everyone in the village treated him with such hatred? Because of the Nine Tails?_

"I don't know how. I didn't know until about two weeks ago. The night of the orientation. Mizuki-sensei told me. I don't know why or how it's inside or me, but it is," Naruto mutters clenching his fist and turning away. "I hold the beast the killed our people and destroyed our village."

"Why didn't you tell me earlier?"

"I was scared...," he muttered.

I sit down next to him and place my hand over one of his fists. He turns back to me surprised. I give him a smile and say. "We'll figure this out."

His eyes grow wide. "W-what?"

"Oh come on," I bump shoulders with him, "You didn't think I would give up on you, did you?"

"Well, I um-"

"We'll figure it out," I say again. "Just because you have this inside of you doesn't mean you're a monster or not my best friend. The Nine Tails doesn't control you."

Naruto shakes his head and moves his hands from my grasp. "No! You saw what happened on the bridge! It did control me!"

"You didn't know what it was like then. Now you do. You can control it. If anyone can, it would be you," I tell him.

Naruto huffs and looks away, unconvienced. "I don't know how you're not running away right now."

"Because I'm you're best friend," I tell him. "I'll never leave you. You and I are in this together, 'til the end. You're going to become Hokage and I'm going to become an awesome ninja. Not alone, together. You hear me, Uzumaki? So don't give up before we even started. Just think of it as another obstacle to get over."

Naruto doesn't say anything and I grab his hand again. "I'm not giving up on you. This Nine Tailed Fox? We'll find a way to get in under control, believe it!" I say, using his usual catchfrase.

At that, he cracks a smile. "Ya," he mutters, then turns to me. "You'll really help me?"

"Of course! I'll help you so whenever I become the greatest ninja first, you won't have any excuse."

He jumps up and points a finger at me. "In your dream, Mizushima!" he says and I laugh.

"No, in _your _dreams, Uzumaki!"

We laugh together.

"I'm really glad you're okay, too." Naruto says suddenly. "When that guy was preforming that jutsu on you...you were screaming and withering around. I thought...I thought you were going to die. I was so angry. The Nine Tails probably would have came out right then if Daichi and the others didn't com ein and save you."

I stare at him, thinking of what would've happened if he let out that power before. "Ya, well, I'm okay now. Thankfully it's all over and we can go back home." And then I groan when I remember what's waiting for me at home.

"What?"

"My parents," I grumble, "I didn't exactly tell them I was going on a mission. They're gonna kill me when I get back."

Naruto laughs nervously. He's been over for dinner before and he knows just how scary my mom can get. "I wish you luck?" He says, scratching the back of his head.

"Oh, save it, Uzumaki." I push him out of the room. "Get out. I need to change. I'll be down there in a minute and ready to leave."

I shut the door behind him took a deep breathe, taking it all in. Naruto and I are twelve. We're new ninjas and we both have dreams. He wants to be the Hokage and finally be treated with respect by the people of the Leaf; I want to become the best ninja possible for my parents. He's an orphan and has been hated by almost everyone his entire life and was left was no explanation as to why. He found out recently why everyone treats him the way they do. It's because of the Nine Tailed Fox that attacked our village so many years ago. It is sealed inside of him and he doesn't know how to control it.

I let out a huff. _Good thing he has someone to go through this with. I can't imagine what it would be like for him to do this alone._

I find my bag in the corner and walk over. I begin to dig out some clothes to change into when I hear the door slide open again.

"Naruto," I say without turning around, "I told you to wait downstairs. I'll be down there in a minute."

"It's not Naruto," a suprising, yet familar deep voice says from behind me.

I spin around, clutching my new clothes to me chest. I stare at the boy in front of me, my heart beating a mile a minute and my throat closing up. I know Naruto told me he was still alive, but it's one thing to hear it and another thing to see it.

"Sasuke," I say, a little breathlessly. I cringed at myself. _Oh god, he probably thing's I'm going to turn into another Sakura._

The onyx haired boy doesn't say anything. He just stands there, his hands in his pockets and his dark eyes calculating. So I keep talking. "I'm glad you're okay. I heard from Naruto that you didn't...you know, die...I'm, uh, I'm glad you're not...uh, dead."

He raises an eyebrow. _God, why do I sound so stupid? _I open my mouth to conitue sputterring out random things, but he stops me.

"I came to talk to you about something." He doesn't wait for me to say anything. He keeps talking. "On the bridge, after Haku struck me down with all of those needles and I 'died', I felt something weird."

_Emotion? _My inner self added sarcastically.

"I was injured, but it was slowly starting to feel better. But not just gradually. It was weird, like something was numbing them. It was a different feeling. But I realized what it was after Kakashi said I was moving in half that time that I should have been. I was healed. By you."

My eyes widen and nearly drop my clothes. "What? You think I healed you?"

He takes a step forward, his eyes narrowed. "I know it was you."

"How?"

"I just know. Now tell me how you know medical ninjutsu?"

"I don't!" I argue, taking a step back to put space between up again. "I was never taught it."

"Then how did you heal me!?"

"I don't know! I mean, you were badly injured. Are you sure it was me?" I ask again.

He rolls his eyes. "Yes, it was you."

Now I roll my eyes, but take it a step further by crossing my arms. "Oh, okay. Wait, what was the point of coming in here and telling me that. Were you going to thank me?"

Sasuke scoffs. "Of course not."

I grit my teeth and turn back around, and stuff my clothees back inside. It's not like I'm going to get changed any time soon with Sasuke in the room. "Oh my god," I groan, "You claim it was me healing you, so basically, I helped save your life and you can't even say two words."

I grab my bag and walk right past him, prepared to find another room to change in. But Sasuke grabs my arm.

"That's not all."

"Oh, what? Did I magically turn into a dragon during the fight and kill the enemy? Is that how they died?" I say sarcastically.

Sasuke sends me a glare that causes me to shrink away. I take a few steps back, pretending that his glare didn't fase me at all and that I just wanted some personal space.

"When Naruto and I were inside the ice dome fighting Haku and you were on the outside, something weird happened with your eyes."

_Weird. He seems to associate that word with anything I do._

"You were concentrating really hard on sometihng and whenever you opened your eyes, they were glowing."

I raised an eyebrow. "Glowing?"

He scoffs and rolls his eyes again. _He sure does roll his eyes a lot. If he keeps it up, his eyes might just get stuck like that. _I crack a smirk when I think of Sasuke with his eyes permanently stuck.

"Oh, don't look at me like that. You're the weird one here."

_And another._

I closed me eyes and took a deep breathe. "Sure. Since I'm suddenly embracing loads of crazy today, why not? So sure, my eyes glowed. What do you mean by that?"

"They just seemed brighter. But it was just for a moment."

My mind flashes back to a familar incident on the bridge.

_(Flashback)_

_My eyes snap open and everything seems so clear... and new. I'm noticing everything now. All these new colors and details...all these new chakras._

_ A sharp pain pulses in my forehead. "Ahhhh!" I exclaim and back up, squeezing my eyes shut. When I open them up, my new vision seems to be gone. Everything is back to normal again; plain._

_ I turn back to the ice dome and see Sasuke looking at me, his eyes wide and confused. He quickly turns back to Naruto._

_(End of Flashback)_

_Is this what Sasuke's talking about? When I had that moment where everything seemed clearer?_

"How do you know it was just an illusion? Like your eyes playing tricks on you or something?" I ask, even though I already know what he's saying is likely true. _Why would he lie about something like this?_

He narrows his eyes again. "Stop asking me that!"

"Asking you what?"

"To confirm things! I know what I saw!"

I gulp. _Okay, now it's getting serious. _"So apparently I have healing powers that I didn't know of and glowing eyes in time of stress. Great. Perfect ninja tools."

Sasuke grits his teeth and turns around, heading back to the door. "Whatever. I was just telling you."

The nasty look falls off of my face. _Could he actually be trying to be nice?_

"But whatever it is, it's seems to be just an inconvenience, considering you didn't even know about it. Or maybe it's just a fluke. Either way, it seems useless."

I frown again. _Nope. _

A knock on the door, causing us to look up. Masaru-sensei has his head popped through a small opening. He gives us a closed eyed smile.

"Sasuke, Takara. We have to get a move on now if we want to get back to the Leaf Village before dark."

_Masaru's POV_

After I told Takara and Sasuke that we would have to leave soon, I headed back downstairs. Sasuke was following me because he left the room so Takara could change. I would normally question why those two were alone together in a room, but I overheard almost their whole conversation, so I knew why.

The others were all seated in the living area. Daichi and Naruto were having a contest to see who could hold their breathe the longest. Sakura seemed to be scolding them, but he attention switched to Sasuke when he entered the room. Ichirou was wandering around, looking at paintings and such.

I walked over to Kakashi. "You were right. She's apparently starting to show signs."

He sighed, but didn't move his eyes from that evil book. "Just as I thought."

"It seems to boy on your team, the Uchiha, took a notice in it."

At this, Kakashi looks up. He turns to his dark haired student. "Sasuke?"

I nod.

"You know what you're going to have to do as her sensei? You're going to have to tell her parents, as well." Kakashi reminds, going back to the book.

I let out a huge breath from my nose and lean against the door frame. "Ya, I know. She's gonna have to be careful. So are her parents."

Racing footsteps causes me to turn. Takara stumbles away from the stairs with he bag over he shoulders. "Ready to go."

**Chapter Ten! Yaaaa, double digits! A bit of NaruKara and SasuKara or NaruTaka and SasuTaka. I don't know. Anyways, she has small emotional moments with both of them. Like I said, this chapter is pretty earlier on the weekend, so I'll probably get at least one chapter in again by the end of Sunday. Yay! They're finally leaving the Land of Waves and are heading back to the Leaf Village. I can finally start the Chunnin exmas. Well, not really. I'm going to add a couple filler chapters in...but at least we're getting there! Please continue to read and review!**


	13. Chapter Eleven

**Chapter Eleven**

_Takara's POV_

It turns out, we weren't leaving as fast as I thought we were. Tazuna, Tsunami, and Inari wanted to treat us all out to dinner for freeing their village form the reign of Gato. Apparently, Zabuza killed him. Another thing that I missed while I was pathetically passed out.

We ate at a place that had such a weird name that even now, thirty minutes after we ate, I couldn't remember it. Dinner was great though. Naruto was stuffing down bowl after bowl off ramen, while Sakure scolded at him for his poor table manners. Daichi was trying to match Naruto in his eating habits. I guess they had become rivals. Which doesn't really surprise me, considering how alike they are. Ichirou was watching the whole scene with mild interest. Our sensei's were laughing about some inside joke we didn't get and were thanking Tazuna and Tsunami. Inari looked up at Naruto like he was his hero. Sasuke just glared. He just stared off into space, glaring. I glared back at him. Every one in a while he would catch my glare and send me back a deadlier one.

After dinner, before we left for real, Naruto wanted to stop by Haku and Zabuza's graves. Their graves were atop of a cliff. You could practially see the whole Land of Waves from here. Two sticks in the shape of cross marked both of their graves. Zabuza's huge sword was infront of him. Behind them, the sun was setting. It was really beautiful up here.

Sakura placed flowers infront of each of their graves and turned to her sensei. "Is that really it, Kakashi-sensei?"

"Hm?"

"Is that the ninja way? To use and be used by people like tools?" Sakura asked, referring to the way Gato used Zabuza and how Zabuza used Haku.

"Shinobi are all merely tools in the hands of destiny," Kakashi-sensei says. "No point in wondering whether it's right or wrong. It just is. It's the same in The Village Hidden in the Leaves."

_This isn't what I thought being a ninja would be like. I didn't think there would be so much...betrayal and manipulating. But I'm not going to give up that easily just because of this. I'm not going to be manipulated._

"Well, if you ask me if that's what being a ninja's all about something's out of wack!" Naruto complains, taking the words right from my mind, "Is that why we go through all this training? Just to end up like them?"

"What is the reason for that?" Sasuke asks, thinking along the same lines as Naruto and I.

Kakashi-sensei sighs. "Well, it's a question without an answer. And that is something we ninja have to deal with everyday of our lives. Like Zazbuza and the kid."

I look down, gripping my hands together in a tight grip. _That's right. Haku was jsut a boy. Probably only a little bit older that me. How could something this tragic happen to him this young? How could his life get that far out of order?_

"Okay!" Naruto exclaims, causing all of us to looks over in surprise.

"Hm?" We all say.

"I've just come to a decision. From now on, I'm finding my own ninja way. A way that's straight and true and without any regrets! From now on I'm following the way of Naruto!"

I grin. _That's it Uzumaki._

_(SKIP)_

We ended up staying at Tazun'a house another night because Masasru-sensei and Kakashi-sensei thought it was too late to head back to the Hidden Leaf. Plus, Tazuna practically begged us to stay.

The next morning, all eight of us stood at the beginning of the newly built bridge. With Gato gone, I guess they finished the construction.

"We could never of finished the bridge without you," Tazuna says. Him and a few others villagers are here to see us leave and og back to the Village Hidden in the Leaves. _It's been, what, almost 2 weeks since I've been home?_

"I can't tell you how much we're going to miss you," Tazuna says.

"Do be careful," Tsunami adds in.

"Thanks," Kakashi-sensei says, "Thank you for everything."

"Now, now. Don't get all choked up. We'll come back and visit real soon," Naruto assures everyone, but I have a feeling it's pinpointed towards Inari, who looks like he's about to cry.

"You swear you will?" Inari asks, his voice and eyes wavering.

"Huh?"

Inari continues to pout, visibly shaking with all the tears he's holding in. Tazuna puts his hand on Inari's head, comforting him. I look at him sympathetically. _Poor guy. He really grew attached to Naruto._

I slide my gaze to my best friend. His eyes are beginning to water as well as he realizes that he and Inari are gong to be apart. _Guess Inari wasn't the only one that got attached. But then again, Naruto's always been like that. Especially with people that are a lot like him. He grows close to them without even realizing._

"Of c-course. You know Inari, it's a-all right to cry if you want. T-there's nothing wrong with that. Go for i-it," Naruto says, sounding choked up. He, too, is shaking from holding in the tears.

"Who says I wanna cry!?" Inari yells as tears begin to pool, almost falling over to run down his cheeks. "Anyway, if there's nothing wrong with it why don't you go on and cry?"

"No! You first!" Naruto yells, making his voice sound strange because of the emotions he's holding in.

Inari and Naruto stare at each other, each shaking with tears pooling up. I roll my eyes, but can't help but smirk. _God, they're both so stubborn! Why don't they just admit that they will miss each other?_

"Forget it!" Naruto finally cries, turning away.

"Naah!" Inari yells in protest, finally crying.

I look back over at Naruto, who now is also crying with his back to Inari. I hear Sasuke scoff. Sakura and I deadpan, unimpressed my Naruto and Inari's show.

Masaru-sensei steps forward. "Tazuna, thank you for also taking in my team and I. We barged in rather unexpectantly."

Tazuna took a step forward and smacked his hand on our sensei's shoulder, laughing. "Don't worry about it, Masaru. Anything for a family friend."

We take off walking across the bridge. It really is quite long. I can't believe we're finally leaving the Land of Waves after all this time. It's almost going to feel...foreign when I get back to Konoha.

"Ha ha! As soon as we get back, I'm gonna let Iruka-sensei fix me up a whole mess of ramen to celebrate a mission accomplished!" Naruto exclaimed. "Oh! And just wait 'til I tell Konohamaru about all my adventures! The kid's gonna worship me!"

_Konohamaru. Ya, I rememeber that kid._

"Hey?" Sakura asks.

"Ya?"

"Not you, Naruto. Sasuke, when we get back do you wanna go out and do something together?" She asks. I smirk, already knowing what's coming.

"I don't think so. Thanks," Sasuke says.

An anime vein appears on my forehead. _He still shot her down, but was nice about it. What the heck!? Is he only rude to me or something!?_

"Oh, okay," Sakura sighs, slowing down.

Naruto slides back to join her. "Sakura, I could do something with you if you want."

"What!?" She screeches and smacks Naruto upside the head. "Hey! That was a private conversation!"

I roll my eyes. _Poor Naruto. When will he learn?_

I walk up beside Sasuke. Ichirou and Daichi walk close to Masaru-sensei, questioning him about continuing training once we get back to Konoha. Kakashi-sensei is lagging behind them. Naruto is still following Sakura, nursing his new would and trying to get her to go out with him once they get back.

_She's not good enough for you, Naruto._

"So," I say, stepping up next to the Uchiha. He glances at me out of the corner of his eye with disinterest. "Just to clarify, you now apparently only hate me."

Sasuke keeps walking, not saying anything.

"Oh, you're giving me the silent treatment. I get it, I get it."

I wasn't this sarcastic back in Konoha, but I guess after seeing all this stuff, I've opened up. It's made me tougher and I've accepted the reality.

I see Sasuke grit his teeth out of the corner of my eye. _Just a little bit more._

"But since I'm not really good at shutting up, I'll just keep talking and you can keep the silent treatment thing up. Okay, so, I have some questions and such, but now that you're not talking, I'll just get out some stuff." I look up ahead to make sure that no one, especially our sensei's, are close enough to overhear our conversations. "First off, about me 'healing' you and my weird eye glow thing, I need more details. I know I've asked you, like, a thousand times, but you're sure you saw it-"

"Yes," he cuts me off with a growl, "I know what happened."

"Okay." I don't make any snarky comment about him giving up the silent treatment. "So we know that that me healing you was just medical ninjutsu, but that's still weird, considering I was never taugh it. But about the eye thing-"

Sasuke interupts me once again. "Why are you telling me this?" When I don't answer, he rephrases the question. It made more sense, but was a lot more rude. "What makes you think I care?"

My eyes narrow and I look away, focusing on the landscape in front of us. We're off the bridge now and are heading through the thick woods. "Look, Uchiha, you're no doubt, a jerk, but you're not as big of a jerk as you're pretending to be."

"And how do you know?" He replies arrogantly.

I set my jaw, "I witnessed it."

"When?" he scoffed.

"When you died."

He didn't have an immediate comeback to that one. We walked about twenty paces before he said anything.

"I didn't really die, you know?"

"Obviously."

Silence again.

"It's just, when we thought you were dying, you were so...nice. I mean, you were still yourself, a.k.a. a little rude, but you were fair. That's why I know you're not really as big of jerk as you pretend."

"I remember how you acting when I was dying," he says.

_(Flashback)_

_ "__Sasuke. Shhhhh. Just...s-shut up, okay? Y-you're not going to die. _

_ Kakashi-sensei and Masaru-sensei will be over here any minute now and they'll get you help."_

_ "No..I'm d-dying Takara. I don't want t-to...but..but I am," he says in a voice that makes him sound strangely vunerable._

_ "Shut up! You don't get to d-decide that! You can't just make friends and leave like this! You st-"_

_ "Takara," Naruto says sadly, placing a hand on my shoudler._

_ Stop crying, stop crying, stop crying, stop crying._

_ "If this is what h-happens to people who choose...the path of the n-ninja, then I...then I want nothing to do with it!"_

_ "Don't be...an i-idiot," Sasuke says, coughing up blood._

_ This is it. He's really leaving. I suddenly feel like I need to get everything out. "I'm so sorry for what I said in the hallway that one night. I had no right to say that stuff! Especially when I barely knew you. You're nothing like that and I-"_

_ "T-Takara...shut..up," he cracks a smile. "Don't...give up..o-on becoming...a n-ninja."_

_(End of Flashback)_

I feel my face flush and I'm suddenly angry. _He's making fun of me. _I stop and turn on the Uchiha. "Don't be-"

My breathe gets caught in my throat when I find his face close to my own, about five or six inches away. That might seem like a long distance, but I can tell you, when you're actually that close to someone, it's not far at all. Suddenly, his onyx eyes seem like so much more.

"I remember every single word you said and everything you did. Why would you waste that much energy on me? You barely even know me?" He asked, lowly.

For some reason, I took that as an insult and narrowed my eyes once I recovered from our close proximity. "_Barely even know you? _We've been in the academy together for six years, Sasuke!"

"You know what I mean."

I swallow a lump in my throat. "How did you expect me to react. I thought you died. As in your life faded away and you were never coming back."

His eyes narrow at my sarcastic jab. "Yes. I know, but the way you acted..."

I threw my hands in the air, frusterated at how this boy was acting. _Does he not know it is a bit traumitizing to see someone die. Especially if it is the first time you've seen someone die._

"I thought you died!" I exclaimed again.

"Was it...Was that the first time you've seen someone die?" Sasuke's voice quiets down a bit. Someting I don't like. It makes him sound concerned, or as close to concerned as a jerk like him can get. I hate it when people look at me like he is and speak to me with the same voice he is.

"Yes. It is. Not many people see death when they're young or before they become a ninja!" I snap. Right after I said it, I reailze my mistake. The Uchiha massacre. I couldn't have been any more brutal.

I see Sasuke wince slightly and just like that, he pulls back and all his emotions are shut off again. "Well, I'm not really dead," is all he says before he stuffs his hands back into his pockets and starts walkin quickly to catch up with the group.

_Dangit! Why do I always blurt the stupidest things!?_

I start walking too, but this time I walk right past Sasuke without even looking at him and catch up with Naruto.

"Ow! Sakura! I said I'm sorry! But won't you consider just one night?! We can go out anywhere you wan - Ow!"

"Get lost, Naruto!" Sakura shouts and then backtracks to go walk with the brooding Uchiha.

Naruto watches her leave with a sad look on his face. He rubs the multiple bumps on his head, left by Sakura.

"Yikes," I say as I walk up next to him, "She sure can be violent."

"Ya," Naruto grumbles.

I sling my arm around his shoulder and stir him back around as we continue walking. "Ya, well, your teammates suck."

Naruto turns to me, back to his usual excited self. "Hey! Since Sakura doesn't want to hang out, do you want to?"

I'm about to agree, but then my shoulders slouch as I remember my parents. "I would Naruto, but my parents probably won't let me out of their sight for at least a week." I let out a huff. "Oh geez, they're going to hammer me when I get back."

_(SKIP)_

Whenever we walked through the gates to Konoha, the sun was setting. I was relieved to see that my parents were no where in sight. Maybe I was overreacting and they weren't _that _mad about me leaving for a two week long mission without telling them and potentional risking me life...Nope. No way. Now that I said that, there's no way they can't be as mad as I think.

"We all have to go to the Hokage's tower to report what happened on the mission. After that though, you can all go home," Masaru-sensei tells us.

We make ur way to the Hokage Tower and I stick close to the two senseis. I keep looking left and right, waiting for my parents to jump out and drag me away.

_I wonder how they're going to punish me? Father usually backs me up because mother is the one that gets angry. Are they just going to give me a strict warning? Or are they going to do something a little worse like taking away my katana or grounding me for a week?_

When we enter the Hokage's office, my nightmares become reality. My mother and father are standing in front of the Hokage's desk. When they hear the door open, they make a move to turn around and I quickly dash behind my sensei. They still know it's me, of course, because the recognize Masaru-sensei. They stare at me with a stern look on their face and their arms crossed.

"Masaru, Kakashi, the mission report?" The Third Hokage says, puffing our smoke from his pipe, completely oblivious to my fuming parents.

"Right," Masaru-sensei and Kakashi-sensei step forward, leaving me with nothing to hide behind. Even though I'm not looking at my parents, I immediately feel their glares.

I scoot back, between Daichi and Naruto.

"Who are they?" I hear Sakura ask.

"Takara's parents," Naruto says quietly in a deadly serious tone. I'm glad he realizes the potential death threat there is here too. "She skipped out on the mission without telling them. They're going to kill her."

"Naruto!" I whisper-yell.

"Sorry," he mutters.

Kakashi-sensei turns back to us. "You six are free to go. We can explain the rest. We thought Lord Third Hokage might ask some questions, but he didn't."

_No, no, no. Tell us we have to stay for the rest of the night._

I look back up at my disapproving parents. I turn to my father and take a step forward, giving him a bright smile. "Daddy?"

"Don't even try it," he says sternly, walking over to me and taking my arm.

"Ow!" I cry as he drags me out of the office, my mother following. "Ow! Father! Let go!"

"No! Who knows? You might run away again!" He retorys angrily, pulling me in the direction of our Clan's compound. He's walking rather fast, causing me to stumble after him. I probably would've fallen over at least a dozen times, but his firm grip keeps me on my feet.

"I didn't run away!" I argue back.

"You left without telling us! What would you call that!?" My father shouts. Right now, the sun has almost disappeared from the sky. So most of the villagers are inside. I'm glad that they are because I don't want them to see my father scolding me like this. It's embarrassing. My father is usually pretty laid back and my mother is the crazy, controlling one. But now, it seems like the other way around. He hardly ever yells. I only remember him yelling three times in my life. This is the fourth. Just because he hardly yells, doesn't mean he's bad at it. Infact, when he does yell, it's probably the scariest thing I've ever heard.

I didn't respond and I let my father bring my back to the compound. Some people in our are still awake and on the streets. I duck my head, letting my hair fall so they can't see my face. No doubt, they still know who I am by the man dragging me.

When we get to my house, my father doesn't even wait for my mother to close the door before he starts yelling.

"What the hell were you thinking leaving on a two week mission and not telling us!?"

I don't like my father when he's like this. The father I knew would kneel down and ask me it with concern etched on his face. This father is staring at me with disbelief, anger, and disappointment.

When I didn't answer he yells, "Well!?" and takes a step closer. I just realized that my mother had gone upstairs, leaving me alone with my father.

"'cause I'm a ninja," I mutter, hanging my head.

"What was that?" He asks, almost mockingly.

A newfound courage caused me to look up and raise my voice. "'Cause I'm a ninja!"

He scoffs and backs up. "You're not a ninja! You're just a little girl!"

My face flushes in anger. "I'm not a little girl. I graduate the academy by myself and I gained this headband. I'm a ninja and I have duties to my village!"

I see my mother coming back downstairs out of the corner of my eye. She's holding a handful of things, familar things. I squint my eyes and when I realize what she's holding, my eyes widen.

"Hey!" I call out, causing her to stop and look at me. "Mother! What do you think you're doing?! That's my ninja stuff!"

She holding a variety of things: training clothes, weapons, ninja book, my katana, and others ninja-realted things.

She holds her chin high. "I'm throwing this stuff away," she says calmly, but I can tell she's upset just like father.

"What!? You can't do that!"

"I can and I am."

I turn towards my father. "Dad!?" I cry out, hoping for some support but he shakes his head.

"You asked for it, Takara."

"What are you talking about!? Okay, yes, I admit I should have told you about the mission, but I was scared that you wouldn't let me go! I want to be a ninja more than anything else to make you two proud! I was just doing my duty!"

"You don't have to be a ninja to make us proud!" My father yelled back.

"This is exactly why I didn't want to enroll her in the academy," my mother mutters.

"What!? But that was my decision-" I begin.

"No," My father interupted, "It was our decision, as your parents. And right now, I agree with your mother. We made the wrong decision in enrolling you in the academy."

"No you didn't!" I protest, but as usual, my parents completely ignore me.

"Your father and I have made a decision," my mother said

My father nods and turns back to me. "We decided we're pulling you from the program. Tomorrow, we are going to the Hokage and you will no longer be a ninja."

A white hot rage washed over me. People can take away my food, my clothes, my weapons, anything. One thing they can't take away is my right to be a ninja. If I wasn't a ninja, I don't know what I would do. That's all I've ever known.

"No!" I yell, catching both of their attention. "No! You cannot take me being a ninja away from me! Whether you think so or not, I'm think of myself as a fine ninja! My sensei and my teammates and my friends think so too! I actually have skill! My chakra control is a lot better than most genin my age! I can strategize when I need to! And, while I was away at the Land of Waves, Masaru-sensei was training me! I'm stronger and faster now! He even taught me a Water Style Jutsu and I've mastered it!" Well, not really. "I'm right up their with my comrades! I've even surpassed some of them! And that's not all! Apparently, I know medical ninjutsu! My friend said I healed him! He also said my eye did this glowing thing- which I have no idea what he-" I begin to rant, but once again, my father cuts me off.

"What did you just say?" He asks, his eyes wide and his voice much quieter, almost concerned.

My brow furrows. _He was so harsh just a moment ago. I wonder what caused him to change emotions so quickly?_

"What?"

"What did you just say, Takara?" My father asks again, taking a step closer with worry evident in his voice. I look past him to see my mother standing with wide eyes and a pale face.

_What had I said? I know I didn't talk back much, but I didn't think I was _that _bad._

"Um, I said...that um, I healed my friend with medical ninjutsu and then he said my eyes did this glowy thingy..." I say slowly, my gaze flickering between my mother and father's face.

"Oh, no...Yuri..." My mother said, in an almost panicked voice as she turned to my father.

"I know, I know, Madoka," My father sighs, still staring at me as if I told him I could fly. "I just didn't think she would obtain it this young."

"What? What is it?" I ask, confused.

"Well she has! And you know how many doors this opens!" My mother says, sounding slightly more frusterated.

"Yes, I know, Madoka!" My father shouts back, turning to look at her. He turns back to me. "Takara, you have nothing to worry about-"

"Don't lie to her!" My mother yells.

"Madoka!"

Father turns back to me. "I need you to tell me which boy it was that saw your eyes?"

I furrow my brow again. "W-what?"

"Who saw your eyes, Takara?" He says a bit more forcefull. "Was it the Hamasaki boy or the Tsukuda boy?"

"Uh..eh, neither..." I reply, still confused as to why I had to give them the name. My eyes just glowed and as far as I know, he could have just imagined it.

"The who was it?" When I didn't reply fast enough, he snapped, causing me to jump. "Takara, who was it!? Who saw your eyes!?"

"Sasuke," I finally answer, looking between the two, "Sasuke Uchiha."

**End of Chapter Eleven! This one is a bit random and short. But I said last chapter in the ending authors note that I'm going to add a few filler chapters before the Chunin Exams. I just didn't want them to come back and then head straight into the Chunin Exams, even though that's what it kind of seemed like in the series. I want it to seem like they had more time inbetween the two things. I'm probably going to have anywhere between 3-7 filler chapters or so before the Chunin Exam. Anyways, how did you like this chapter? Her parents were just worried about her. And Sasuke seems to be right in the middle of things? And apparently, this eye glowing thing is serious. Most people should already know what it is, but I'm not going to add in any extra hints if you haven't figured it out yet. Keep reading and reviewing please!**


	14. Chapter Twelve

**Chapter Twelve**

_Recap:_

_ "Um, I said...that um, I healed my friend with medical ninjutsu and then he said my eyes did this glowy thingy..." I say slowly, my gaze flickering between my mother and father's face._

_ "Oh, no...Yuri..." My mother said, in an almost panicked voice as she turned to my father._

_ "I know, I know, Madoka," My father sighs, still staring at me as if I told him I could fly. "I just didn't think she would obtain it this young."_

_ "What? What is it?" I ask, confused._

_ "Well she has! And you know how many doors this opens!" My mother says, sounding slightly more frusterated._

_ "Yes, I know, Madoka!" My father shouts back, turning to look at her. He turns back to me. "Takara, you have nothing to worry about-"_

_ "Don't lie to her!" My mother yells._

_ "Madoka!"_

_ Father turns back to me. "I need you to tell me which boy it was that saw your eyes?"_

_ I furrow my brow again. "W-what?"_

_ "Who saw your eyes, Takara?" He says a bit more forcefull. "Was it the Hamasaki boy or the Tsukuda boy?"_

_ "Uh..eh, neither..." I reply, still confused as to why I had to give them the name. My eyes just glowed and as far as I know, he could have just imagined it._

_ "The who was it?" When I didn't reply fast enough, he snapped, causing me to jump. "Takara, who was it!? Who saw your eyes!?"_

_ "Sasuke," I finally answer, looking between the two, "Sasuke Uchiha."_

_Takara's POV_

My mother is the first to react. "Sasuke Uchiha! _Uchiha! _ The damn Uchiha boy saw it! Well she couldn't have picked anyone worse, that's for sure!"

"Madoka!" My father turned on her. "Calm down. I think you should go upstairs and calm down. I'll clean this up."

"How do you expect to clean this big of a mess in such little time!?" My mother yells and suddenly, she looks much older.

"I'll handle it!" My father growled. Mother reluctantly sighed and went upstairs, thankfully, taking my stuff with her. At least I know my stuff won't get thrown away any time soon.

I turned back to father. He was running his hands down in faced. _He's stressed. But from what? I don't understand how this is such a problem? _"Father, what's wrong? What's going on?"

When my father removed his hands, he was smiling. But he looked old too, like mother had a moment ago. He places a hand on my shoulder. "Don't worry about it. I'm sorry for yelling at you so much earlier. I was just so worried about you during the mission. Your mother and I thought it was a simple training exercise and when you didn't come back for dinner, we started to worry. I'm sorry."

I nod. "It's okay," I say, even though I don't know if it is. "I'm sorry too."

My father turns and heads towards the front door.

"Wait. Where are you going?" I ask. "Why won't you tell me what's going on?"

"I'm going to talk to the Hokage," he says slowly, ignoring my last question.

I immediately panic as I recall his words from earlier.

_ "We decided we're pulling you from the program. Tomorrow, we are going to the Hokage and you will no longer be a ninja."_

I take a step towards my father. "What are you going to talk with him about?" I ask cautiously.

He stares me down long enough for me to know that he knows what I'm really asking: _Are you going to pull me from being a ninja?_

"I'm only talking to him about the problem at hand," he says, which could mean either thing.

"Dad!" I groan, annoyed.

"Go to bed, Takara."

I close my eyes as I begin to feel tears well up due to the fact that I'm getting no where. _They won't listen to me! Everything I say goes in one ear and out the other! It's as if my opinion doesn't even matter! _"Daddy, please don't pull me from the program," I say quietly.

There was a pause. "Go to bed, Takara."

I left out a frusterated scream and march upstairs, rather childishly. _But hey, that's how they're treating me._

"Wait," I hear my father say, causing me to stop halfway up the stairs. _Is he going to take it back? Does he realize how wrong and unfair this is?_ "You can't tell anyone, Takara."

I scoff when I realize he's still talking about the stupid eye thing. _It was nothing! Sasuke just thought he saw my eye glow! Nothing else._

"Takara, look at me," he saws in his 'father voice'.

I reluctantly turn around, avoiding his eyes and crossing my arms.

"You can't tell anyone about this. Do you understand, Takara?"

I nod, "Whatever."

"Good," he says and leaves without another word. I spin around and head back upstairs.

_ I can't believe he's not considering my feelings! He's completely ignoring me. He thinks he's doing what's best for me, but all he's doing is ruining my life. Being a ninja is all I want to do with my life. I can't picture doing anything else. Not to mention the eye thing. My parents completely overreacted with that. And what are they going to do about Sasuke?_

When I get into my room, I stop to find it trashed and half of my belongings missing._ Of course, how could I forget. My mother took out all of my ninja-related stuff since my parents are apparently no-ninja. She must have been upset and in a hurry and just ripped everything apart. _

I gritted my teeth and clenched my fist. _It probably only took my mom seconds to do this, but it'll take my at least an hour straight to clean it. She literally tore it apart._

I was suddenly fed up. I was angry at my parents for getting so upset with me, I was angry at them for threatening to pull me from the ninja program, and I still think they're content on doing it, I was angry at them for not telling me why they were reacting the way they did, and most of all, I was angry with them for not listening to me. I hate being ignored.

I turned right around on my heel and headed back down the stairs. I wasn't staying here tonight. Not until they started treating me fairly. I get I'm their daughter and that I'm only twelve, but I'm a ninja and I deserve to make choices in my life.

I still had my bag from the mission. It had overnight clothes and stuff for me to use while I was staying some place else.

I peeked around the staircase corner, making sure my father wasn't here anymore. He was gone.

I headed out the front door and even before I made up my mind on where I was going, my feet were already taking me there.

In ten minutes, I showed up infront of Naruto's apartment and knocked on his door. Just like how Naruto had been to my house, I'd been to his. We 'tend to go to his more often since it's more private and we can do whatever without parents scolding us. We used to have cooking competetions when we were younger to see who was the best chef. The stray cats acted as the judges. Unfortunately, neither of us were very good chefs. I think we actually killed one of them. I remembered we cried about it for days and we even hosted a funeral for it.

The door swung open. Naruto stood there, dressed for bed. His pajamas consisted of a matched baby blue cotton pants and long sleeved shirt. He discarded his forehead protector for a walrus-like sleeping cap. He looked younger this way, more Naruto.

"Takara?" He asked in surprise.

"Hey, Naruto," I wrung my fingers together, suddenly nervous. "Do you mind if I stay here for the night?"

I have stayed the night at his house before, just as he has at mine. But of course, my parent's knew where I was all the times before.

"Uh...Ya, ya. Sure," Naruto said, opening up the door wider so I could slip in. He closed the door behind him once I was inside.

His apartment wasn't small, but it wasn't big either. But since it was only him, it didn't need to be big. It was a one bedroom, one bathroom, and a kitchen apartment. He always had it cluttered. Whenever I came over, I always cleaned it for him.

Currently, his kitchen table and counter was covered in a variety of empty food containers.

"Uhhh," Naruto scratched the back of his neck as he looked at the mess. "Sorry, I wasn't really expecting any company..."

A smile broke across my face. "No, no, this is just what I needed. I wouldn't have expected anything else from you."

"Was that an insult?"

I rolled my eyes, but kept the smile. "No, Naruto," I say and find myself unconsciously making my way to clean up the mess.

"Takara, you don't have to do that," Naruto starts, but I wave him off.

"No problem. It's like old times, right?" I haven't been over at Naruto house for at least four months. That might not seem like long, but considering we spend all that time together, it was a little odd. "Besides I kind of need a distraction right now," I mumble quietly.

But of course, Naruto being Naruto, heard it. "Why's that?" He asks, clearing off the table. Before I can answer his first question, he shoots another one at me. "Hey, do you want some ramen. I was experimenting with some different flavors. I think I've finally won the best chef contest. But I cooked too much. I was gonna save some for leftovers, but you can have it now that you're here."

I smile when I hear that Naruto hasn't forgotten about those cooking contests either.

"Sure. I would love some," I say as I sit down at the table across from him. He hands me a tub of ramen and I smirk up at him. "Are you sure this is safe to eat?"

"Of course it is! I may not be the best cook, but it's not deadly!" I open my mouth to remind him about the cat we killed, but he seems to rememeber himself. "Oh, wait. That one time with the cat...nevermind."

I laugh and pick up a bit of the ramen with the chopsticks the same time Naruto does. We look at each other before simultaneously stuffing it into our mouths. I chew at bit. _Not that bad. The noodles are cooked just right, maybe a little too soft. But other than that-_

My eyes suddenly buldge from my head as the aftertaste hits me, the same thing happening to Naruto. We both immediately spit it back out into the whole, coughing and hacking up anything left over.

"That was horrible!" Naruto chokes out.

"Worse than eating one of Shino's insects!" I cry out.

Once we get the taste out of our mouths, we look up and each other and start bursting out laughing.

"You're still a horrible cook!" I laugh.

"I'm still better than you!"

"In your dreams, Uzumaki!"

"No, in _your _dreams, Mizushima!"

We finally decide on just cooking up some quick instant ramen.

"Ya, this is _much _better," I say through a mouthful of noodles. Naruto's already on his second bowl. For someone who so small, he sure does eat a lot. I would even be willing to bet he eats about the same amount Choji does

"Mhmm," Naruto agrees. He seems to be rather intent on stuffing his face.

I was full after one bowl of ramen. But Naruto ate a total of five before he was satisfied. We were throwing away all of the scraps and trash when he started asking questions about why I was here.

"So, uh, not that I don't want you here or anything, but, um, why are you here? I mean, I know I asked you if you wanted to hang out tonight, but you said you probably couldn't because of your parents." Naruto says after throwing away his chopsticks.

I sigh and turn to him after putting my bowl in the sink. "My parents are ticked."

"Ya, I could tell from the way your parents looked in the Hokage's office. Not to mention the way your father pulled you away, totally uncool."

"Oh, I know right? And when I say they're ticked, I mean _really, really _ticked." I feel my fists clench, "They even-" I stop, remembering what my father told me.

_"You can't tell anyone about this. Do you understand, Takara?"_

I paused, debating on whether or not I should keep talking about it. _Wait, what am I thinking? This is Naruto. He's my bestfriend. I can tell him anything._

"They even threatened to pull my from the ninja program," I finish.

"What!" Naruto exclaims, "They threatened to pull you!? As in, you wouldn't be a ninja anymore!?"

I nod and suddenly feel the urge to rant. "Ya! They were all upset about me leaving without telling them! Like I know they were worried, but still!"

Naruto sat back down at the table, "So, what happened when you got home?"

"Okay, my father was already yelling at me on the walk home, but he really started yelling whenever we got home. He was going on and on about how I wasn't ninja material and then my mother took my ninja stuff - even my katana! She was going to throw it all away! She said she never wanted me enrolled in the academy and then my father said he was going ot go talk to the Hokage and pull me from the ninja program-"

"That's bull!" Naruto interupted, "He can't just do that! It's your choice!"

"That's what I said, but he didn't listen! Neither of my parents were listening to me." I lowered my voice back down to regular volume, ignoring the warning going off in my head about telling Naruto what I was planning on telling him next. "Then, something weird happened. On the mission to the Land of Waves, whenever we were fighting Zabuza on the bridge, my eyes, like, glowed. At least that's what Sasuke said. I didn't think it was a big deal. I thought he just imagined it or something. But as soon as I mentioned it to my parents, they freaked out. My mother got all upset and went upstairs over it and my father went to talk to the Hokage."

"Is he pulling you from the program now!?" Naruto asks, alarmed.

"I don't know! They won't listen to me! I'll ask them questions and they'll ignore me! I don't even know why they're freaking out!" I groan in frustration and lean back in my chair so I'm looking at the ceiling. _So many things could be going on right now. These could be my last moments of a ninja._

"Hey, Takara! Don't let him control you! You've got to stand up to your parents and tell them how badly you want to be a ninja!" Naruto encourages.

"I tried that, but like I said, they won't listen."

"Then we'll make them listen. They have to see for themselves how good you are."

"Naruto, I'm not even that good. I mean, I'm not horrible and I do have my strong points, but I don't know if that's enough to convience them to change their mind," I sigh.

"Then you're going to have to train harder. Come on, Takara! Don't give up on your dream!"

"Well what am I going to do if they do go to the Hokage and get me pulled? They don't realize that they're ruining my life," I groan and cover my face with my hands.

I hear the chair scrape back against the floor and footsteps. Then I feel a hand on my shoulder. I look up to see Naruto smiling at me.

"Don't worry, Takara. Remember when I told you about the Nine Tails inside of me?" I nod. "Well, you told me not to worry about it and that we would work it out. That's what I'm going to tell you now. We'll work it out. I'll be by your side. Don't worry, I'm sure your parents will pull through and keep you as a ninja. I've seen the way they are around you. They just love you."

I smile up at him. "Geez, Naruto. When did you get so smart?"

He puffs out his chest. "I've always been smart. I just choose not to waste it on school."

I roll my eyes. "Suuuuree." As soon as I say that, a yawn suddenly escapes from my mouth.

"I'm ready for bed," he yawns after me, stretching his arms over his head.

"Ya, me too," I agree, standing up from the table. We both make our way towards his room after shutting off the kitchen lights and that's when I realize something.

"Hey, Naruto. I didn't bring a sleeping bag or anything." Whenever we were younger and had sleepovers at each others houses, we always brought sleeping bags.

He stops, noticing the problem too. He doesn't have a couch or anything and his floor isn't carpet.

He shrugs. "I guess we could both sleep on the bed..."

"Are you sure?" I ask him. "I know it isn't that big."

"Ya, but neither are we. It'll be fine," Naruto explains as he shuts the bedroom light off and sits on one side on the bed.

"Thanks, Naruto. Again. Thanks for letting me stay here tonight. I just don't think I could spend it back at home."

"Ya, no problem," he says, but it doesn't really sound like he's paying attention. He lays down and just like that, he's out. _Guess he was exhausted form the mission._

Suddenly, my brain seems to remember the mission and I finally realize how tired I am too. I slip under the covers next to him and soon enough, I'm passed out too.

_(SKIP)_

Like I've mentioned earlier, I like my sleep. I am not a morning person. So it doesn't shock me when I wake up and the clock shows that it is almost eleven.

I also notice that the bed is empty, meaning Naruto's gone. Which is weird because I know Naruto is no early riser either. He must of had a mission or training. Something ninja related. That would be the only thing that he would get up early out of bed for.

I yawn and throw the covers off, then neatly make his bed. I'm not exactly a neat freak, but if something is dirty right infront of me and it's easy to fix, I fix it.

I grab my bag and walk out into him kitchen, planning on writing him a note to thank him, yet again, for letting me stay the night. I think I'm going to go out and train for now. Even though Naruto and I have been friends for years, I don't want to feel like I'm overstepping my boundaries with staying at him apartment all day long.

But whenever I get into the kitchen, I find that there's a not already written. It's from Naruto.

_Dear Takara,_

_ You're still sleeping and I didn't want to wake you. I'm just telling you that I left around nine to go train with Sakura and Sasuke. It was suppose to be just Sasuke training, but Sakura invited herself, so I invited myself. Anyways, you can stay as long as you want. See you later!_

_ Naruto_

I smile and turn the paper around so I can write him a note back.

_Dear Naruto,_

_ I noticed you were gone when I woke up - which was around 11. Thanks for letting my stay last night, but I think I'm going to try to talk with my parents and sort things out later on today, so I probably won't be back. I hope you had fun at training. I'm going off to do some training of my own right night. _

_ Takara_

I leave his apartment and head into the woods closest to it. Ever since I got lost in the woods and Naruto meet me for the first time, he's shown my every way in and out of these woods.

I didn't want to go to my father and I usually training spot. I was afraid he might be looking for me and find me there. I'm actually surprised he didn't show up at Naruto's last night.

So I wandered around the woods for awhile, trying to find a decent sized, open training ground. I finally found one, but it already seemed to be occupied for a team of four. My first thought was Naruto's team, but once I looked at them for a while longer, I realized the seemed older.

There was three men and a women, or should I say: two boys, a girl, and a man. They were a ninja squad, no doubt about it. They looked close to my age, but since they weren't in the my class, I guessed they were a year or two older.

The man, who appeared to be their sensei, was cheering on one of the boys rather enthusiastically. Their sensei was tall and slender. He was wearing a green jumpsuit when the typically jounin jacket over it. He has on orange leg warmers and blue ninja sandals. His black hair is in a bowl cut and he has a rather blinding smile.

The boy he's praising looks exactly like him, _exactly. _The only difference is that the boy doesn't have a jounin jacket and isn't as tall. Other than that, his sensei and him and twins. He wears his Hidden Leaf headband around his waist.

The girl in the group has her brown hair up in two buns. Her bangs slightly run over her own Hidden Lead headband. She's wearing a pink, tight-fitting, sleevelesss shirt that is held together by three red bands on the front. She wears baggy green pants that go to the middle of her shin and blue ninja sandals.

The last boy reminds me of Sasuke. He has long brown hair and wears his forehead protector on his forehead, like the girl. He has on a tan shirt that is attched with three straps in the middle and black ninjs shorts. His right arm and leg are bandaged completely so you can't see any skin. _Did he have a bad accident of something? _He too, is wearing blue sandals.

I was going to turn around and head back through the woods, looking for another place to train, but one of their voices causes me to freeze.

"If you're done spectating us, you can come out now?" A smooth, deep voice says.

_Oh shoot! They caught me. But how? I wasn't being loud at all. One of them must be a sensory ninja._

I smile sheepishly and step out from behind the bushes. "Sorry," I laug nervously, scratching the back of my neck, "I was looking for some ground to train on and ended up here. But as I can see, it's already occupied. '

"Oh, I know you!" Their sensei shouted, rather loudly.

I jumped and turned to their sensei. I was really hoping to just apologize then get out of here. "You do?"

"Of course! You're Yuri's daughter! I knew Yuri back when I was in the Academy! His team and my team where pretty close! Not to mention your sensei is Masaru!" Their sensei laughed as if that was the funniest thing in the world and I just stared at him, my sweat dropping.

"Uhh...how do you know that?" I ask hesitantly.

Their sensei places a hand on my shoulder and gives me a closed eyed smile. "Masaru's been bragging about his new team. Says that have some real potentenial."

That catches my interest. "Really?! Masaru-sensei said that?"

He sends a blinding smile my way and gives me a thumbs up. "You bet!"

"Uh, Gai-sensei?" A new voice says. So that's their sensei's name. His twin student steps forward. "Who is this girl?"

"Why I just told you, Lee! She's one of the new genin this year!" Gai-sensei pats me on the back like we're old friends.

The other boy, the one who pointed me out in the first place rolls his eyes. I just now notice that they're tha weird lavender color tht only belongs to the Hyuga clan. _So he's realted to Hinata._ "You claim you know her, but do you know her name?"

Their sensei opens his mouth, but pauses. He turns to me. "What's your name?"

"Takara. Takara Mizushima," I say slowly, debating on whether or not I really should've given it to him.

The boy scoffs and the girl turns to him. "You don't have to be so rude, Neji. She probably has a horrible first impression of you."

The boy, Neji crosses his arms. "Why would I care about what she think of me?"

"Tenten is right, Neji!" Lee steps in, "She was just looking for some training grounds."

"Riiiiiight," I say, taking a step back and evaluating the situation. "Ya, I was looking for traing grounds. It was great meeting you guys and all, but I think I should get back to that."

"Nonsense! If it's training grounds you're looking for, you can just stay here and train with us!" Gai-sensei exclaims like it's the best idea in the world.

"Gai-sensei!" Neji cries out in protest.

"Oh, come on, Neji! A little friendly competetion never hurt anyone! The more the merrier! Right, Lee!?" Gai-sensei gives his twin student a thumbs up and a smile.

"Yes, Gai-sensei!" Lee exclaims, returning the smile and thumbs up.

"Uh, that's not neccessary. I'm way behind you guys in training. I should-" I begin to back up, but Gai-sensei grabs my shoulder and brings me closer to the group.

"Okay!" He calls, "To start off this training session, I want twenty laps around the village!"

My eyes practically pop out of my head. My father and I ran around the village sometimes, but not _that _much. The most we ever did in a row was seven.

"Yes, Gai-sensei!" Lee says enthusiastically. He seems to be the only one who's happy about it though.

"Get a move on! If you're not back in by one, all you four will have to climb the great stone faces!"

I blanch. I do have pretty good chakra control. But that's a long way up and it's pretty windy up there. Not to mention the huge stone that would be in our way.

_He's trying to kill me._

**So she ran into Gai's team! Lol. I decided this was going to happen pretty recently because Lee is a good match for her taijutsu and Neji jas his ocular jutsu...Anyways, there isn't much I have to say. Please keep reading and reviewing!**


	15. Chapter Thirteen

**Chapter Thirteen**

_Takara's POV_

"He's crazy. He's can't be human," I say as Tenten, Neji, and I sprint around the village. We've done fourteen laps and I'm starting to get tired. Lee's lapped us and is already on his sixteenth lap. _There's no way someone can be that enthusiastic about this. Or everything, for that matter._

"I know. That was Neji and mine's reaction whenever we were first put on a team. He was always smiling and motivating," Tenten said as we began our fifteenth lap.

"This must drive you crazy. Especailly since there's two of them," I mumble, referring to their enthusiastic sensei.

Tenten nods. "It took a while to get used to them, but now, I wouldn't wish for anyone else."

I turned back around and face the scenery in front of me and I continue to run, despite my aching legs. _That would be nice, _I thought, referring to what Tenten said, _to have a strong team bond like they do. Even though, clearly, everyone of them has different personalities, they're really close. _

I turn around to Neji, realizing he's been quiet for the whole run. "What do you think about Rock Lee, Neji?"

Neji turns his head and narrows his eyes at me. "I think he's annoying," he says in a flat voice that oddly reminds me of Sasuke. I furrow my brows. _Okaaaay, maybe they're not as close as I thought they were. _"But he works hard and I can respect that," Neji adds and I turn around and smirk. _Ahhh, I see how it is. Why does it seem like there's some sort of friendly rivalry between the guys on each team?_

Suddenly, we hear the pounding of feet. It grows louder and louder until it sounds like a herd of elephants are running by. Rock Lee runs past us, blowing our hair in every direction. He really is fast.

"Hurry up, Neji, Tenten, Takara! Gai-sensei gave us a time limit, but we should push to exceed his expectations!" Lee shouts gallantly as he races away.

Tenten's sweat drops. "Ah man, I forgot about that time limit."

_(SKIP)_

When he get back to the training field that Gai-sensei was on, Lee is unsurprising back and - again, unsurprisingly - doing push-ups.

"Four-hundred eighty nine, four-hundred ninety, four-hundred ninety one...," he mutters as sweat drips down his brow.

"Well now that we're all here," Gai-sensei pronounces when he spots us, "we can all climb the Great Stone Faces together!"

"Uh, Gai-sensei, we all completed the running before one," Tenten pointed out.

"Tenten, my beautiful spring flower, we need to keep going strong or our youth will fade!"

I turn to Neji and Tenten. "Youth?"

Neji crosses his arms and shakes his head. "Nonsense," he mutters.

Bu nevertheless, fifteen minutes later, we are scaling the side of the Great Stone Faces.

"Is this even allowed!" I shout over the whistling of the wind.

"Of course! Why wouldn't our village encourage such youthful energy?! Right Lee!?"

"Of course, Gai-sensei!"

I growl under my breath. _This is like boot camp for ninjas._

From the ground, I never realized how tall this monument was. But climbing it now, I can tell you it is _very tall. _If I had to make a guess, I would say at least 2000 meters. So far, Tenten and I are lagging. We decided to take it easy. We would not like to fall to our death today. Lee and Gai-sensei are about fifty meters up, racing to the top. Neji is somewhat between us. He's, as he says it, "a safe distance away" from both of us. Apparently, there's only so much social time he can take.

"It's me, isn't it?" I said once he announced his leave.

"What? Uh, it's...uh, no..." Tenten, mumbled, suddenly climbing faster.

I easily caught up. "You're lying," I said bluntly.

She sighed and stopped climbing altogether. "Neji isn't really open with new people."

I rolled my eyes. "I hadn't noticed."

"He doesn't take lightly to people he's unfamilar with, I mean. He was pretty cold with us whenever we were put in a team last year. He may still seem a little stiff, but he's definately warmed up to us," Tenten explained. _So they are only a year older._

"He definately can be rude at first, but he's not a bad guy."

"So...he hates me because I'm a stranger," I clarified.

"He doesn't hate you, but ya, essentially."

"At least he has the stranger-danger part down."

_(SKIP)_

By the time we reached the top, Gai-sensei and Lee had came up with another crazy training method. I told Gai-sensei that I really should be going, making up some story about how I had to head home for my daily stretching exercises with my mother. Tenten gave me a sympathetic look, apparently knowing of my bad lie and how exhausting her team can be. Lee begged me not to leave, but Gai-sensei "encouraged my youthfulness" and invited me back to train the next day. I was about to polietly decline, but when Neji cried out in protest to his sensei offer, I changed my mind and gladly excepted the invitation, sending Neji as smirk that he returned with a glare.

As I was walking home, I found myself thinking about whether or not I should even go home.

_Naruto did say I could stay as long as I wanted. _I shook my head. _No. It would be rude to show up again for the second night in a row. This is my problem with my family and I need to solve it. Even it my father did pull me out of the program. _I grumbed at that and sped up my pace.

When I entered my house, my parents were arguing.

"Well I didn't know she was going to run away! What did you say to her anyway!?" My mother demanded.

"It doesn't matter. You knew how she felt and you should have kept a better eye on her!" My father scolded.

"You shouldn't have left like that, you -," My mother stopped when she spotted me. "...Takara..."

"...Hi..."

My father was quick to march up to me and grab both of my arms. "Where were you last night?" he demanded.

"Did you pull me from the program?"

"Where were you?"

"At Naruto's. Not did you pull me from the program?"

My father let out a sigh of relief. "Oh."

"What do you mean 'oh'?" I raised my eyebrow. "And why aren't you answering my question?"

"Listen, I'm sorry for yelling at you, but you can't run off like that," my father told me.

I took a few steps back, freeing myself from his hold. Now I remember what it was like to talk with my parents when they were like this. All of the conversations seemed one-sided. "I didn't run away because you yelled at me. I ran away because of how unfair you were being."

"You may think we were being unfair, but we were - we are - only trying to protect you," my mother cut in.

"I know! But you don't care about my input at all. You completely ignore my decisions!" I argue back.

"What decisions!? You're twelve years old. Until you turn 18, we have full control over you and your life," my father said, going to stand next to my mother.

"Control? I'm not something you can control! I'm your daughter!"

"Yes, you are our daughter. And as your parents, we are trying to protect you," my mother said, lowering her voice.

I wanted to curse at myself when I felt tears of frustration start to well in my eyes. I couldn't help it. I didn't understand why they were doing this. I get that they're my parents, but shouldn't they want their daughter to be happy?

"Takara," my father said in a gentle voice when he saw the tears. "You don't understand. You'll get it when you grow up and have your own kids."

"You're right. I don't understand. I don't get why you keep doing this to me. Everything was fine between us before yesterday. I know I shouldn't have just left on that mission without telling you guys. That was a jerk move. But the way you pulled me off like that in front of all my friends yesterday - that was uncool. So not cool! And then you brought me home and started yelling at me and asking me all these questions! I felt like I was being interrogated by my own parents. And then you threatened to pull me from the program! That was low, daddy, and you know it! I've always wanted to be a ninja and you were just about to take that from me over something I _still _don't even know. Being a ninja means the world to me! It's amazing. I get to learn how to protect myself and other people. I get to be important and looked up to. I get to be like you! And I don't know if you actually did pull me from the program or not! And of course, when I get back you start yelling and asking questions again! Plus, I just spent the day with a overenthusiastic sensei and his crazy team so excuse me if I am a little stressed! So tell me, did you or did you not pull me from the program!?"

My parents stared at me, their eyes wide and their eyebrows arched. I felt my cheeks flush when I realize I just told off my parents. But I shoved down my embarrasment and puffed my chest out.

"Well?"

"...No...," my father said with the hint of a smile.

My heart skipped a beat. "You didn't?"

A full smile spread across my father's face and he waked back up to me. "I didn't. I felt guilty last night. I did go and talk to the Hokage about it and I even talked to your sensei."

"You talked to Masaru-sensei about it?"

He nods and bends down to my level. "Yep. Now what did you say earlier?"

"Uh, when?"

"What did you say about being a ninja?"

My face flushes again, "Uh, sorry about saying all that. I was really angry-,"

My father cut me off. "What did you say?"

"I said I liked protecting people and myself. And that we were looked up to, kind of like you."

He smiled and looked up at mother as if to say _'do you hear her? Did you hear what she said about me?'_

Although I was pretty happy he hadn't pulled me from the program, I still wasn't satisfied. "Wait, what is the big thing that started this anyway. I know that I left on a week and a half long mission and didn't tell you. And then I told you that thing happened with my eyes and Sasuke saw, but I still don't get it." I look between my parents hoping for an explanation.

My father purses his lips and looks at mother. She's wringing her hands together. Father turns back to me and opens his mouth, but my mother interupts.

"Wait, Yuri - "

"We agreed we would tell her when she awoke her Kuirobigan, Madoka."

_Kuirobigan. _A work that seems foreign, but yet familar.

"I know," mother says, "but we didn't think it would happen this young."

"But it did," my father says sternly, turning to mother, "you can either sit down and help me explain it to her or you can leave."

I couldn't help the excitement that was stirring in my gut. _Is this it? Are they really telling me what all the fuss is about?_

My mother sighed, "Come. Lets talk about this in the kitchen."

We all sat on the ground around the low table. I squirmed on the seat pillow, anxious for some answers.

"Okay, Takara, you have to keep in mind what we're about to tell you is the clan's secret. It stays in the clan, do you understand?"

I nod quickly, barely listening.

"Pay attention, Takara. This is very serious. I wouldn't be telling you this unless I think you're ready."

"Okay, okay."

My father gave me a pointed look before continuing. "Seeing as though you already awoke the Kuirobigan, we have to tell you this or else we would be leaving you unprepared- "

"What's the Kuirobigan?" I cut in.

"Don't interupt and I'll explain," father says. "Anyways, as I'm sure you know. Some clans have kekkei genkais. Some examples are the Uchiha Clan and the Hyuuga clan with their ocular jutsus." My mind flashed to Sasuke's Sharingan and Neji's Byakugan. "Well, out clan has our own as well. It's the Kuirobigan. And like the Uchiha's and Hyuuga's, it's an ocular jutsu too."

This time I couldn't help but interupt. "That's so cool. What does it do? How does it work?"

My mother swats my head softly. "Let your father explain."

"The Kuirobigan is an ocular jutsu based on chakra. It's hard to explain how it works exactly. But it's not all in the eyes. You're body changes as well, but of course, you naturally notice the change in your eyesight first. But really, you're body altered to adjust and become awhere of all the chakra surrounding you. The Kuirobigan is a very good defense mechanism because if there is a change in chakra nature in the air around you, you notice. For example, if someone is about you attack you from behind, your body senses it and reacts to counter the attack before you yourself even register what's happening. Same with smaller objects such as kunai or shuriken. You're body is always a step ahead of your brain in this."

My mouth drops. "That is so cool. So like, you have it? Can you show me?"

My father smiles and suddenly his violet eyes flash. I stare at them, hypnotized. So Sasuke was right. They do glow. The eyes seem alive. The violet eyes dance between and around each other, creating thousands of shades from one color. They're beautiful.

And just like that it's gone.

I look up to my father. "You have to teach me how to do that. Please?"

I see his eyes fill with admiration as he stands from the table and holds out a hand. "Come on. The usual training field. We still have about four more hours of daylight left."

**Finally done with this chapter. Bleck! I have so much to say. First off, this chapter was so hard to write. I basically had writers block the whole time. Now it is shorter than usual because it's a filler and because of my brain clogging up. Ew. **

**Also, I'm so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so sorry for not updating for like a month. I was busy/had writers block. But I'm back for at least another week before school and sports whisk me away again. **

**Plus, some of you might have noticed I did the Mizushima Clan stuff a little differently. If you remember from the Introduction where it had all the clan stuff, their ocular jutsu was not their kekkei genkai, but after developing this story for awhile, I decided to switch a bunch of things around. So most of the stuff in the first chapter, intro thing isn't even valid in my mind anymore, but I'm too lazy to change it. So some of you might notice a lot of changes from the original version. But I realized I need to cut down or make some stuff more realistic. I don't want to make them seem like gods or stuff. I want Takara to feel like a girl with a lot of problems that's barried over her head. Haha.**

**Anyways, yes this is a crappy chapter and double yes, I haven't updated in forever, and triple yes, a lot of things are being change and modified, but please continue reading and reviewing.**


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